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Netanyahu: ‘Obama knows Israelis determine what their interests are’
Concert commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Golden retriever motivates Cedar Village residents
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Journalist: Obama says ‘Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are’
DINING OUT
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Ambar India—a tikka masala miracle
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James Tocco
2013 Jaguar XK—the beauty is in the pounce
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Internationally renowned pianist James Tocco will perform at the Scheuer Chapel on the campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion on Sunday, Jan. 27, at 4 p.m., in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The concert is presented as a part of the Concerts on Clifton series and is co-sponsored by the Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education. Tocco has a worldwide career as an orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber music performer. His repertoire of over 50 works with orchestra includes virtually the entire standard
piano concert repertoire. During this performance, Tocco will be accompanied by Daniel Culnan on cello, Rebecca McMullan Culnan on violin, Chika Kinderman on violin and Yaël Senamaud on viola. The music will include: String Quartet No. 3, opus 46 (c. 1943) by Viktor Ullmann (18981944). The piece is a lyrical, sumptuous work with a wistful quality, influenced by the Second Viennese School. Ullmann composed this piece during his imprisonment at Theresienstadt concentration camp. He died shortly after at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Although this work survives, the num-
ber of lost or missing compositions makes clear the full extent of the loss caused by persecution and war. 5 Etudes de jazz for piano solo (c. 1910-1920) by Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942). The composer was one of the earliest and most successful exponents of art music drawing on jazz. He drew inspiration from the various cultural movements of his time, including Dada, Expressionism and Socialist Realism. His works have rarely been noted or performed. He died in the Wülzburg (Bavaria) concentration camp. Piano Quintet in G Minor, opus 57 (c. 1940) by Dmitri Shostakovich
(1906-1975). This piece is Shostakovich’s best-known chamber work and is structured in five movements. Written for and performed by the Beethoven Quartet, it was premiered by them with Shostakovich himself on piano at the Moscow Conservatory in 1940. In 1941 it was awarded the Stalin Prize. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the liberation of AuschwitzBirkenau by Soviet troops. The concert is free and open to the public with a reception to follow.
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Golden retriever motivates Cedar Village residents The rehabilitation unit at Cedar Village Retirement Community is equipped with the latest devices for physical therapy. Employees regularly undergo training to make sure they’re using the most effective techniques. But sometimes, a 5-year-old Golden Retriever named Gates who works at Cedar Village can motivate a patient to do something remarkable, something that might be challenging due to a patient’s medical condition. Dorothy Rednour Andersen of Mason had suffered a stroke, affecting the right side of her body. She hadn’t walked since the stroke. After noticing Andersen’s affection for Gates, a Cedar Village physical therapist decided to see if Gates could help. At one end of a room, Andersen sat in a wheelchair. At the other end – 25 feet away – stood Gates. With a therapist at her side, the 89-yearold woman rose, grasped a walker and headed toward Gates. When she reached him, she petted and hugged him. Then, she repeated the exercise but from farther away. Since then, Andersen has been walking every day, even when Gates isn’t around. Gates started working at Cedar Village last year after Debi Tyler, Cedar Village’s director of rehabilitation, noticed that residents perked up when relatives brought pets to the community.
Gates with Millie Klein and Bertha Matthers.
Tyler adopted Gates as a family pet from Circle Tail, a nonprofit organization in Warren County that provides service dogs for people with disabilities as well as dogs for adoption. Gates became the second Golden Retriever in the household. The other one is a 12year-old named Buffy. Gates, a gentle and sweet animal with blond fur, goes to work with Tyler every day as the “facility dog,” often wearing a blue scarf with the Cedar Village logo. Just by being around, Gates lifts the spirits of Cedar Village’s residents and staff when they see him. They pet, hug and kiss him. “He has a lot of friends and fans,” Tyler said. Some Cedar Village residents
who live in independent or assisted living apartments have their own dogs. But most residents can no longer care for pets. And they miss having them as companions. That’s where Gates fills a need. “Dogs can often sense when someone is having a difficult time, and the dogs can be so comforting,” Tyler said. “Plus, it helps people to focus their attention on something other than themselves and their challenges, even if just for a moment.” Tyler can tell story after story of amazing things that happen almost every day: • A resident with dementia who didn’t want to get out of bed did so after an occupational therapist brought Gates to her bedside. Then, the resident took Gates’ leash and walked him to breakfast. • Some residents interact and speak to Gates, even though ordinary conversation is difficult because of dementia. • Some rehab patients brush Gates’ fur or throw a toy for him to fetch, with a hand that may be weak from illness or injury. • Residents chuckle as they watch Gates roll in the snow outside their windows or carry a large stuffed animal in his mouth. Andersen, a published poet, is so fond of Gates that she wrote a poem about him: “Blonde is beautiful, the slogan goes. Just add loveable and kind. Gates is walking proof of that. He is gentle on your mind.”
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21 years of work. The book features many firsthand accounts from the era, including diary entries and newspaper clippings. There has been a clear effort to keep the work authentic and true to life, despite the roughly 70 year period that has separated the events of the book from the present day.
JCC presents Summer Jobs Fair for teens High school and college students, ages and 16 older, looking for a fun and rewarding summer job are invited to attend the 2013 Summer Jobs Fair at the Mayerson JCC on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. The JCC Summer Jobs Fair provides information about Camp at the J summer positions, including camp counselors, specialists, Red Cross certified lifeguards and swim instructors. It is an excellent opportunity
for teens in grades 10 and older. Working with children develops leadership and communication skills, and will provide students with both memories and new skills that will help them in their college application process. Camp Staff will also have the opportunity to learn about camp operation and programming. All Camp at the J positions require a minimum 7-week commitment, June 10 – July 26.
Nikki Feld, who is a sophomore at the University of Cincinnati, worked at Camp at the J last summer and said, “I love working at Camp at the J. Each day is different and fun and the children are great to be around. So many of my friends have had a hard time finding jobs in this economy or getting jobs that will guarantee hours. I was really lucky to find this job at the JCC Summer Jobs Fair.”
Camp at the J offers activities for children entering kindergarten through grade 10. Facilities include indoor and outdoor pools, a modern playground, Ga-Ga pit (Israeli dodgeball), archery range, ball field, full-size gym, art room and game room. For older campers, day trips, cook-outs, music and sports – including basketball, soccer, kickball, martial arts and outdoor games – offer non-stop fun!
Chabad Jewish Center offers ethics course Are you an ethical person? Of course you are, but we all face difficult situations where our sense of the right thing to say or do can be challenging. The Goldstein Family Learning Academy will present Living with Integrity: Navigating Everyday Ethical Dilemmas, the academy’s new six-session course for winter 2013 that will begin during the week of Jan. 31. Rabbi Yisroel Mangel of Chabad Jewish Center will conduct the sessions at three convenient times and locations: Thursdays, 9:30 – 11 a.m. at Chabad Jewish Center beginning Jan. 31; Thursdays, 12 – 1 p.m. with lunch, at the law offices of Wood and Lamping; and Monday evenings, 7:30 – 9 p.m. beginning
Feb. 4 at Chabad Center. “There’s a lot of talk about ethics for government and big corporations, but almost every day we confront complex ethical decisions in our own relationships,” said Rabbi Mangel. “From Nanny Cams to our responsibilities to our parents, Living with Integrity will provide a framework for making balanced decisions for ourselves and for the people we care about.” Topics include privacy, forgiveness, responsibility to our parents, charity, honesty and making and keeping commitments. The course will address questions such as: When is it ethical to use a covert camera? Should one forgive domestic violence? What is the extent of our financial obliga-
tion to our parents? How binding are our verbal commitments? There comes a time when we’re forced to choose between conflicting responsibilities or making ethical compromises for good reasons. How do we decide what is right, and more importantly, what is right for us in our unique situation? This course will call into question business theories, challenge our assumptions, and help us gain clarity on the values that matter to us all. Packed with real-life scenarios, Living with Integrity challenges students to articulate their own opinions, while providing practical Talmudic wisdom to help them navigate through life’s inevitable ethical challenges. This
course will not only provide the tools to make appropriate decisions, it will also serve to enhance interactions with family and friends. Like all previous courses from the Goldstein Family Learning Academy, Living with Integrity is designed to appeal to people at all levels of Jewish knowledge, including those without any prior experience or background in Jewish learning. All courses are open to the public, and attendees need not be affiliated with a particular synagogue, temple or other house of worship. In addition, this course has been accredited by the Ohio Supreme Court for nine hours of CLE Ethics Credits.
CJC hosts Tu B’Shevat Birthday Bash
Ages 3-5 having a blast with Gymboree Play & Music at last year’s Tu B’shevat Birthday Bash.
that they can relate to. Every child relates to having a birthday party, so we hold a yearly grand birthday party for the trees!” Tu B’Shevat, the 15th of
Shevat on the Jewish calendar— celebrated this year on Saturday, Jan. 26—is the day that marks the beginning of a “New Year for Trees.” This is the season in which
the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruitbearing cycle. The day of Tu B’Shevat is traditionally marked by eating fruit, particularly from the kinds that are singled out by the Torah in its praise of the bounty of the Holy Land: grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. On this day we remember that “man is a tree of the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19) and reflect on the lessons we can derive from our botanical analogue. The party will be on Jan. 27, from 2 – 3 p.m., at the Chabad Jewish Center The party is free of charge with advance reservations by Thursday, Jan. 24, (there is a charge if one does not make a reservation), and is open to Jewish families with young children under the age of 5. Older siblings are welcome to join in the fun.
The American Israelite “LET THERE BE LIGHT” THE OLDEST ENGLISH-JEWISH WEEKLY IN AMERICA - EST. JULY 15, 1854
VOL. 159 • NO. 27 THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013 13 SHEVAT 5773 SHABBAT BEGINS FRIDAY 5:32 PM SHABBAT ENDS SATURDAY 6:33 PM THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE CO., PUBLISHERS 18 WEST NINTH STREET, SUITE 2 CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202-2037 Phone: (513) 621-3145 Fax: (513) 621-3744 publisher@americanisraelite.com editor@americanisraelite.com production@americanisraelite.com RABBI ISAAC M. WISE Founder, Editor, Publisher, 1854-1900 LEO WISE Editor & Publisher, 1900-1928 RABBI JONAH B. WISE Editor & Publisher, 1928-1930 HENRY C. SEGAL Editor & Publisher, 1930-1985 PHYLLIS R. SINGER Editor & General Manager, 1985-1999 MILLARD H. MACK Publisher Emeritus NETANEL (TED) DEUTSCH Editor & Publisher JORY EDLIN MICHAEL SAWAN Assistant Editors ALEXIA KADISH Copy Editor JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM IRIS PASTOR RABBI A. JAMES RUDIN ZELL SCHULMAN RABBI AVI SHAFRAN PHYLLIS R. SINGER Contributing Columnists JOSEPH D. STANGE Production Manager ERIN WYENANDT Office Manager e Oldest Eng Th
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Chabad Jewish Center is putting the final touches on the children’s Birthday Bash for the Trees on Sunday, Jan. 27, in honor of the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat. The party, for families with young children under the age of 5, is free of charge and features holiday crafts, fruit smoothies, a chocolate fountain and of course, lots of birthday cake. The highlight of the party will be an interactive program by Gymboree Play and Music. “The Jewish calendar is full of many different holidays, some major, some minor,” explains Ziporah Cohen, director of the Bagel Babies’ Mommy and Me classes at Chabad Jewish Center. “Our goal here at Chabad Jewish Center is to bring the joy and message of all the holidays to even the youngest of ages. Four years ago we conceived a plan to give children the opportunity to celebrate Tu B’Shevat in a way
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Nazi occupied France. The morning-long presentation will feature discussion, contemplation and recollection. This is a wonderful opportunity for a firsthand Holocaust educational experience. Lévy-Feibelman’s book, which will serve as the focal point of discussion, was published in 2011, after
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proved to be a short term solution, as the invasion of France put the family once more within striking distance. Without leaving the country the family managed to survive the Holocaust. Find out how when Lévy-Feibelman leads a program covering the resistance, resilience and freedom of her early life in
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Marguerite Lévy-Feibelman, the author of Whisper Your Name into My Ear, will highlight her story of survival Feb. 3, from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. at Congregation Beth Adam. Born in 1920s Germany, LévyFeibelman’s father moved her family to Paris to avoid Germany’s new Nazi government. The move
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Author recounts Nazi occupation
THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE (USPS 019-320) is published weekly for $44 per year and $1.00 per single copy in Cincinnati and $49 per year and $3.00 per single copy elsewhere in U.S. by The American Israelite Co. 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE, 18 West Ninth Street, Suite 2, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2037. The views and opinions expressed by the columnists of The American Israelite do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the newspaper.
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Wise Temple’s ninth annual ATTENTION ADVERTISERS Cincinnati Chicken Soup Cook-Off New rates begin January 1, 2013 On Sunday, Jan. 27, from 12:15 to 2:15 p.m. Wise Temple will be bustling with activity for the ninth annual Cincinnati Chicken Soup Cook-Off. Delicious smells, beautiful tables and great food entice us as restaurants and amateurs show off their cooking prowess in the competition for the Best Chicken Soup in Cincinnati. Every year the Jewish community assembles to savor different soups. But is it just about soup? Jay Rissover, program cochair and chicken soup aficionado, says, “Savoring the best professional and amateur soup collations in the city is certainly the highlight of this event, but it’s definitely not just about the soup!” Besides sampling all the delicious soup you can eat, here are the top nine exciting activities happening at the Chicken Soup Cook-Off: Number 9: Look at the great table decorations, be amazed at the color and creativity of all of our entrants. Number 8: Meet celebrities. Our Mistress of Ceremonies, Janeen Coyle, is accompanied by a team of judges: Our newly elected Congressman Dr. Brad Wenstrup, Nathan Bachrach, Brian Thomas and Howard Ain. Number 7: Other tasty foods to round out your soup. Number 6: A little friendly competition. Not only will celebrity judges vote for everything from most unique soup to best table decorations, you can
National Briefs White House condemns Morsi calling Zionists ‘descendants of apes and pigs’ (JNS) The White House has condemned the recently revealed anti-Semitic remarks made by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in 2010. In a video that was circulated by Egyptian media, Morsi is seen describing Zionists as “blood suckers,” “warmongers” and “descendants of apes and pigs,” according to the translation provided by Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Morsi made the comments when he served as the Muslim Brotherhood’s official spokesman in 2010. When asked by reporters about the Morsi video, White House spokesman Jay Carney condemned the video and said the White House has addressed the
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Awards will be given away in many categories, such as the “Best Chicken Noodle” and “Best Matzo Ball.”
cast your vote for your favorite soup in the People’s Choice Award. Help us pick the best in the city. Number 5: Great bargains and fabulous prizes. Place a bid in the silent auction for: fine jewelry, art, sports memorabilia, sports tickets, restaurant gift cards, photography packages and more. In addition, all attendees receive a door prize ticket and prize winners will be announced throughout the event. Number 4: Live music. The Wise Temple band, Shir Chadash, will be performing and adding to the day’s lively atmosphere. Number 3: A greater purpose. The Cook-Off is a part of a greater Mitzvot. In addition to soup samremarks with Morsi. “We have raised our concerns over these remarks with the government of Egypt,” Carney said. “We completely reject these statements, as we do any language that espouses religious hatred. This kind of discourse has been acceptable in the region for far too long and is counter to the goal of peace.” In another video posted by MEMRI, Morsi also in 2010 mocks President Barack Obama and calls for further indoctrination of hate against Zionists. Morsi said, “One American president after another—and most recently, that Obama—talks about American guarantees for the safety of the Zionists in Palestine... He uttered many lies...” “Dear brothers, we must not forget to nurse our children and grandchildren on hatred towards those Zionists and Jews,” he said, according to MEMRI. Many in Egypt fear the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. Last month huge protests erupted in Egypt over fears of Islamic influence on the new constitution and a controversial decree by Morsi giving him nearly absolute power.
ples for the public, hundreds of gallons of food for a local soup kitchen have been donated as a part of this event. Number 2: There is an energy and camaraderie that comes with the cooking of chicken soup that is second to none. And the Number 1 “non-soup” activity happening at the Ninth Annual Cincinnati Chicken Soup Cook-Off is…a great sense of fellowship. The smiles and kibitzing among hundreds of people at this event is contagious. They say chicken soup cures the common cold, but at Wise Temple, it does more than that. It bonds people together. So bring your appetite and your enthusiasm.
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Haredi Orthodox account for bulk of Jewish population growth in New York City By Gil Shefler Jewish Telegraph Agency NEW YORK (JTA) — Most of the growth of the Jewish community of New York over the past decade took place in two neighborhoods of Brooklyn, according to new data from a survey first published last year. UJA-Federation of New York last week released more details from its 2012 demographic study to show that two-thirds of the rise in the number of Jews living in metropolitan New York City occurred in Borough Park and Williasmburg, two largely haredi Orthodox communities. “When we examine the geographical profile and see where cohorts of the Jewish community— and their diverse characteristics— are found, we recognize both challenges and opportunities for communal leadership,” said John Ruskay, UJA-Federation’s executive vice president and CEO. “A challenge because more people have more needs and those needs differ from area to area throughout the region. And an opportunity because there are now more people to engage in Jewish life and community.” According to the survey, the number of Jews living in New York and its environs increased by 10
percent over the past decade, to 1.54 million, cementing its status as the largest metropolitan Jewish community in the world outside Israel. According to the study’s new data, in Borough Park, home to the Bobov Chasidic sect and several other haredi communities, the Jewish population rose by 71 percent. In Williamsburg, the seat of the Satmar Chasidic sect, the population increased by 41 percent. The data offer a glimpse of demographic trends that are reshaping the makeup of the world’s most important Diaspora Jewish community. The 469-page study, carried out by a team of sociologists and claiming to be the “most comprehensive and detailed study ever conducted on local Jewish areas,” also shows significant changes elsewhere in the metropolitan area. The number of Jews living in the northern Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights skyrocketed by 144 percent. The Bronx, a former bastion of Jewish life that had seen a long period of decline, is rebounding with the number of Jews rising from 45,100 to 53,900 in the last 10 years. More Jewish families live in a single Manhattan neighborhood, the Upper West Side (43,900), than in all of Cleveland, Ohio (38,300). The study also addressed pat-
terns of affiliation. In Brownstone Brooklyn—a large swath of Kings County that includes neighborhoods such as Park Slope, Red Hook and Windsor Terrace— Jewish residents reported relatively low rates of affiliation. About half the respondents in the area volunteered at charities, although not necessarily Jewish ones. The highest proportion of married Jewish couples lives in Great Neck and the Five Towns area of Long Island. Residents of these suburbs on average gave more to Jewish causes, traveled more frequently to Israel and felt a closer connection to the Jewish state than respondents from almost any other county. The survey also provided information about the religious affiliation of the community. About 40 percent of participants living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan said they identified with Reform Judaism, and more than 30 percent of respondents in the Queens areas of Flushing and Kew Gardens Hills were affiliated with Conservative Judaism. Last year’s findings had shown a general decline in the number of those affiliated with both movements. Ruskay said the data gathered by his organization already had been put to use in assessing the damage wrought by superstorm Sandy.
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Danny Ayalon says goodbye—for now By Maxine Dovere JointMedia News Service NEW YORK – With the prospects of elected office in the rearview mirror, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon didn’t simply reminisce when bidding farewell to U.S. Jewish leaders. Rather, he presented a wideranging economic and political analysis, advising his audience to “see reality as it is… in order to affect policy.” Speaking to members of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations at a Jan. 10 meeting in New York City, Ayalon said goodbye – for now. He was booted last month from the Yisrael Beiteinu party’s Knesset ticket for not informing his boss, former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, of a meeting he held with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Ayalon warned of a universal “growing lack of governability, even in your (American) system.” He discussed the importance of recognizing the magnitude of geopolitical change. “We must consider what world will be left to the future generations,” Ayalon said. By 2050, 10 billion people will seek food, affordable energy, water, good medical care, and security, he said. “The only thing that can close the gap is technology… and Israel is at the forefront of technology,” Ayalon said. Israel’s relationships throughout the international community are also changing, said Ayalon. Practical demands have created a “new agenda” and Israeli experts are already in place. “Israel is not isolated at the United Nations,” he said. “There is a sea of change between multi-lateral and bi-lateral diplomacy, [the latter] realistically based on how a country can benefit from a relationship… People like to do business with Israel – and it shows!” Israel’s recently discovered energy resources – initially gas and lately, oil – will further alter relationships, suggested Ayalon, providing “the bridge between the economic world and the world of politics… Change in the price of oil will change the geopolitics of the world.” He characterized the “weight” of oil as “diminishing.” A reliable water supply is an essential component of growth – especially in the Middle East. “Israel is the only country that desalinates,” Ayalon said. He anticipated that “Israel will supply water to the whole Middle East.” Though he was not a candidate for office in Israel’s election, Ayalon recommended that the new government “think outside the box”
Courtesy of Maxine Dovere
Danny Ayalon speaks to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Jan. 10.
when looking at the complex issues of Iran and the Palestinians. “We must recalibrate our expectations,” Ayalon said. “I do not see a final status agreement,” he said. “The minimum Palestinian demands do not meet the maximum Israel can give. We should find the good, if not the excellent… Find the converging interests between Palestinians and Israelis. This is not a ‘zero sum game.’ We need a formula… Final borders are not necessary – perhaps a return to the roadmap and a long-term interim solution to give Israel security and the Palestinian Authority recognition.” Ayalon stressed that the changes have more promises than challenges. “Both sides need to think of management of the conflict and reduced tensions in order to develop an interim agreement with economic cooperation and less acrimony,” he said. “Since the 1948 war, the Arabs have said ‘time works for us;’ 65 years later, Israel is stable, technologically advanced, and able to defend itself,” Ayalon said. “At the same time, the Arab world is imploding! Time works only for those who use it well.” But Israel needs to invest in more than technology, according to Ayalon. “A different framework, with more universal burden sharing, including universal draft or national service,” is part of solving the “growing gap between the millionaire young entrepreneurs and the lower-paid workers,” he said. Ayalon added that Israel “must level the playing fields and strengthen its periphery.” The $32,000-per-capita income attained by the top third of Israelis has been “achieved with one hand tied behind our back” because “25 percent [of Israelis] are not participating” in the workforce, according to Ayalon. He suggested that addition of the ultra-Orthodox could double Israel’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), advising that “it must be done with a consensus; some influential rabbis are already agreeing.”
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As the Hagel battle intensifies, Pentagon nominee gets key support from Jewish Dems By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraph Agency WASHINGTON – Even as critics intensify their efforts to depict him as unfit to protect the U.S.-Israel relationship, Chuck Hagel has convinced several of the most prominent Jewish Democratic lawmakers to endorse his nomination to lead the Pentagon. Since rumors of his nomination first surfaced in December, opponents have argued to varying degrees that Hagel is anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic. At the center of many of the attacks has been his 2006 comment to an interviewer that the “Jewish lobby” intimidates many people in Washington. In recent days, Hagel has secured endorsements from three of the most identifiably Jewish and pro-Israel Democratic lawmakers: U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), as well as U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. The endorsements follow several discussions with lawmakers during which Hagel is said to have expressed regret for the “Jewish lobby” comment. In those discussions, he also assured lawmakers that he is committed to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “In our conversation, Sen. Hagel made a crystal-clear promise that he would do ‘whatever it takes’ to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including the use of military force,” Schumer said in a statement regarding his Monday meeting with Hagel. “He said his ‘top priority’ as Secretary of Defense would be the planning of military contingencies related to Iran.” Obama’s formal nomination of Hagel on Jan. 7 only intensified the battle lines over the former Nebraska senator and Vietnam War hero. That day, one of his most prominent critics, Elliott Abrams, told NPR that Hagel “appears to be” an anti-Semite. Less than a week later, on the Jan. 13 broadcast of “Meet the Press,” one of Hagel’s more prominent defenders, Colin Powell, called such attacks “disgraceful.” Powell’s rejoinder was all the more extraordinary because he and Abrams were the top shapers of foreign policy in the George W. Bush administration – Powell as secretary of state in the first term and Abrams as the deputy national security adviser who took the
Courtesy of U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley
Chuck Hagel speaking at the announcement of his nomination as secretary of defense, as a smiling President Obama and Homeland Security official John Brennan look on, Jan. 7, 2013. Brennan was tapped as the nominee for CIA director at the same announcement.
lead on Middle East issues. “When they go over the edge and say because Chuck said Jewish lobby he is anti-Semitic, that’s disgraceful,” Powell said. “We shouldn’t have that kind of language in our dialogue.” There was little sign that the sharp exchanges would fade ahead of confirmation hearings likely to take place as early as next month. The Emergency Committee for Israel, a group that has consistently opposed Obama’s Israel policies and backed only GOP candidates, ran a full-page ad in The New York Times on Tuesday urging readers to call Schumer and the junior senator from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand, also a Democrat, and tell them not to confirm Hagel. “Ask them to put country ahead of party,” the ad said. The Zionist Organization of America and Christians United for Israel continue to advocate against Hagel on Capitol Hill and through social media. On Tuesday they were joined by one of the preeminent political action committees, NORPAC, which asked its activists to tell their senators that they oppose Hagel’s nomination. Liberal Jewish groups such as Americans for Peace Now, J Street and the Israel Policy Forum have backed Hagel. Centrist groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee at one time seemed poised to fight the choice – but not now. For example, in letters to Democratic senators before the formal nomination, AJC pressed them to urge Obama not to nominate Hagel. Since the nomination, however, the group has said it is ‘concerned’ but does not formally oppose the nomination. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has not made
any public statement on the matter, and Hill insiders say its officials also have been silent on Hagel in their private encounters. Josh Block, the former AIPAC spokesman who now runs The Israel Project, has been directing reporters to material critical of Hagel, but from his private email account. Hagel, meanwhile, has barely granted any interviews – a JTA request is pending – but has reached out to top Jewish lawmakers to explain what appear to be past equivocations on Iran policy and to apologize for remarks in which he referred to an “intimidating” Jewish lobby. Calling the term “Jewish lobby” a “very poor choice of words,” Hagel said in a letter to Boxer that “I used that terminology only once, in an interview. I recognize that this kind of language can be construed as antiIsrael.” He delivered a similar apology over the phone last week to Wasserman Schultz, a flag bearer for Jewish causes among Democrats – it was her freshman legislation that in 2006 established Jewish Heritage Month. “He realized some of the things he had said previously were offensive and inappropriate,” Wasserman Schultz told JTA. Hagel already had the backing of two leading Jewish senators, Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif,), but insiders considered Schumer’s endorsement critical. Schumer has noted repeatedly to Jewish audiences that his name derives from the Hebrew word “shomer,” or guardian, and that he sees Israel’s security as his calling. Boxer also is a go-to Jewish lawmaker – she was the lead on a bill last year that enhanced the U.S.-Israel security relationship.
Ninth Annual Cincinnati Chicken Soup Cook-Off Presented by Wise Temple Brotherhood
Sunday, January 27 12:15 - 2:00 PM Isaac M. Wise Temple 8329 Ridge Road
Enjoy incredible soup from restaurants like: Izzy's,
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is currently seeking a
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8 • NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL
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Journalist: Obama says ‘Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are’ By Jacob Kamaras and Shlomo Cesana JointMedia News Service The same reports of tension between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that persisted leading up to November’s U.S. election have re-emerged before Israelis head to the voting booth on Jan. 22. In an article for Bloomberg published Tuesday, journalist Jeffrey Goldberg – who is thought to have good access to the White House – wrote that in the weeks following the United Nations vote to give the Palestinians non-member state status, Obama said privately and repeatedly, “Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are.” Goldberg wrote that Obama believes Netanyahu, by approving Israeli construction beyond the country’s pre-1967 borders, is “moving his country down a path toward near-total isolation.” “When informed about the Israeli decision [to announce construction plans in the E1 zone as a punishment for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ U.N. move], Obama, who has a famously contentious relationship with the prime minister, didn’t even bother getting angry,” Goldberg wrote. “He told several people that this sort of behavior on Netanyahu’s part is what he has come to expect, and he suggested that he has become inured to what
Courtesy of The White House
President Barack Obama (far right) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak— both checking their watches—in September 2010 at the White House.
he sees as self-defeating policies of his Israeli counterpart.” Richard Baehr, chief political correspondent for American Thinker, told JNS Obama’s reported comment about Israel not knowing what is in its own best interests reflects “the basic narcissism of his approach, but also that of many critics of Israel.” “They know what is best for Israel, democracy be damned,” Baehr said of those critics. “If Israelis who have Israel as their primary concern, elect leaders whose policies do not square with conventional dovish western sensibilities —that a two state solution is waiting to be had, if Israel would only be more forthcoming—then
Israelis do not know what is in their best interests. Those who know are the EU, Obama, Mahmoud Abbas, the United Nations, Peter Beinart and Tom Friedman.” Obama-Netanyahu tension before the U.S. election centered on the Iranian threat, with Obama refusing to set the specific “red line” requested by Netanyahu which, if crossed, would prompt American military action against Iran. Regarding a red line, Obama told rabbis from across the denominational spectrum in a conference call before Rosh Hashanah this year that “no leader wants to tie his hands” by setting such conditions. Additionally, on the CBS “60 Minutes” program, Obama went on
to describe Netanyahu’s calls for a red line as “noise.” Now, amid Obama’s nomination of former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel – who has come under fire for his record and statements on Israel (perhaps most infamously, his reference to the “Jewish lobby”) – for defense secretary, the “dysfunctional relationship between Netanyahu and Obama is poised to enter a new phase,” according to Goldberg. “On matters related to the Palestinians, the president seems to view the prime minister as a political coward, an essentially unchallenged leader who nevertheless is unwilling to lead or spend political capital to advance the cause of compromise,” Goldberg wrote. “Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, Obama’s nominee to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, is said to be eager to re-energize the Middle East peace process, but Obama – who already has a Nobel Peace Prize – is thought to be considerably more wary,” he wrote. “He views the government of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as weak, but he has become convinced that Netanyahu is so captive to the settler lobby, and so uninterested in making anything more than the slightest conciliatory gesture toward Palestinian moderates, that an investment of presidential interest in the peace process wouldn’t be a wise use of his time.”
A divided Belgium nears a belated consensus on Holocaust-era complicity By Cnaan Liphshiz Jewish Telegraph Agency ANTWERP, Belgium – As the sister of Belgium’s most powerful Nazi, Madeleine Cornet knew better than to inquire about the ethnicity of the three women she hired as housemaids in October 1942. Cornet did not want to further implicate herself by hearing what she already knew: Her new hires were Jews who managed to escape the deportations that her brother, the Belgian politician and Nazi collaborator Leon Degrelle, was busy organizing. The unlikely story of Cornet and her husband, Henry, was unearthed only a few months ago among a wave of articles in the Belgian media last year dealing with the country’s role in the Holocaust. The sudden focus on Belgium’s Holocaust history reflects the country’s belated reckoning with its complicity in the deaths of 28,902 Belgian Jews during World War II. In the last year, Begium opened
its first Holocaust museum and, for the first time, acknowledged its role in the persecution of its Jewish citizens. It began in August, when the mayor of Antwerp admitted the country’s Holocaust-era guilt, initiating a string of mea culpas by his Brussels counterpart and the leaders of several other municipalities and culminating with a statement from the prime minister himself. “We must have the courage to look at the truth: There was steady participation by the Belgian state authorities in the persecution of Jews,” Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo said at a memorial ceremony in Mechelen, the point from which more than one-third of Belgium’s Jewish population of approximately 66,000 was sent to Auschwitz, according to Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. This month, a committee of the Belgian Senate endorsed a watereddown version of his words, noting only that “some Belgian authorities” helped deport the Jews.
The formal admissions of guilt have come late by Western European standards. Austria acknowledged its culpability in 1993; France and the Netherlands followed suit two years later. “I think the delay owed in part to tensions between Belgium’s two parts, the Flemish-speaking Flanders region and the Frenchspeaking Wallonian region,” said Guido Joris, an editor of Joods Actueel, the Antwerp-based weekly that published the Cornets’ story for the first time. “These differences meant it took a long time to arrive at a consensus.” Indeed, even mundane decisions such as building a new university or hospital often lead to recriminations between the distrustful representatives of the country’s two ethnic groups, the Flemish and the Walloons, who occupy three autonomous regions that make up a brittle federal entity the size of Maryland. Historian Jan Maes discovered the Cornets’ story, tracking down
one of the housemaids, Hannah Nadel, who now lives in Israel. Nadel recalled that visitors associated with the Nazi movement would routinely dine at the house, while the three Jewish women hid in the basement. Nadel’s mother sometimes would cook gefilte fish, which Cornet presented to her guests as “oriental fish.” The bravery of couples like the Cornets was not as uncommon in Belgium as in other European countries. According to Yad Vashem, Belgium has 1,612 Righteous among the Nations, the designation applied by the museum to non-Jews who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust. The figure is the third highest in Western Europe, behind France (3,513) and Holland (5,204) and well ahead of Germany and Italy, with 500-some rescuers apiece. The Cornets are not on the list, as Nadel, 86, has never submitted their names. BELGIUM on page 20
International Briefs Bulgarian government denies Hezbollah link to terror attack against Israelis (JNS) The Bulgarian government and media have denied any Hezbollah link to the terrorist attack against Israeli tourists at the Black Sea resort of Burgas last summer that left five Israelis and one Bulgarian dead. A January 17 report broadcast on Israel’s Channel 2, however, stated that an investigation had concluded Hezbollah was involved in the attack. The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry denied the Israeli TV report linking Hezbollah to the Burgas attack. A report in the Bulgarian media also said that there is no evidence of Hezbollah’s involvement and added that the suspected bomber had ties to alQaeda, the Jerusalem Post reported. Earlier in the week, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov visited Israel to brief Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres on the investigation. Officials have remained quiet on the details of the briefing. Bulgaria has said that the bombing was perpetrated by outsiders but has yet to publish the full findings of its investigation. Israeli and American officials suspect Hezbollah’s involvement in the attack. The two countries have also been lobbying the EU to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and impose sanctions on the group. Imprisoned Iranian-American pastor to face Iran’s notorious ‘hanging judge’ (JNS) A 32-year-old IranianAmerican pastor who is being held at Iran’s notorious Evin Prison because of his Christian faith will go on trial next week before a judge known for handing out harsh sentences, Fox News reported. The Reverend Saeed Abedini, a naturalized U.S. citizen and Christian convert, was arrested in September while visiting his family in Iran. Abedini will face one of Iran’s most notorious “hanging judges” on Jan. 21 on charges of compromising national security. Abedini is one of the leaders of the underground church movement in Iran. Made up of Christian converts, the movement claims to operate more than 100 churches in 30 Iranian cities, with more than 2,000 members. In a recent letter to his wife, Abedini described the mixed signals he is receiving during his imprisonment.
INTERNATIONAL • 9
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013
How the press soft-pedaled Hitler
For a Jewish school in downtown Brussels, it’s relocate or shut down
By Rafael Medoff JointMedia News Service
By Cnaan Liphshiz Jewish Telegraph Agency
“There is at least one official voice in Europe that expresses understanding of the methods and motives of President Roosevelt – the voice of Germany, as represented by Chancellor Adolf Hitler.” That incredible statement was the opening line of a flattering feature story about the Nazi leader that appeared on the front page of the New York Times in 1933, and was typical of some early press coverage of Hitler, who rose to power 80 years ago on Jan. 30. Hitler’s ascent caught much of the world by surprise. As late as May 1928, the Nazis had won less than 3 percent of the vote in elections to the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament, and the Nazi party’s candidate for president received barely 1 percent of the votes in March 1929. But as Germany’s economic and social crises worsened, the Nazis rose to 18.3 percent of the vote in the parliamentary election of July 1930. They doubled that total two years later, becoming the largest party in the Reichstag.
BRUSSELS – On the third floor of the Belgian capital’s oldest Jewish school, Jacquy Wajc pauses to listen to the eerie silence that hangs in the hallways. Established in 1947 as a testament to Belgian Jewry’s postHolocaust revival, the Athenee Maimonides Bruxelles school once accommodated 600 students in its spacious building in downtown Brussels but now has only 150. Enrollment entered a free fall 10 years ago, as Jews left the area for the suburbs and were replaced by immigrants, many of them Muslims, who made Jewish parents believe the area was unsafe. “It breaks my heart,” says Wajc (pronounced “vights”), president of the Maimonides school. “I remember when you couldn’t hear a thing this time of the day over the raucous PE class.” As anti-Semitic attacks spiked during the second Palestinian intifada in the early 2000s, parents who themselves were proud Maimonides alumni enrolled their children elsewhere, citing security concerns. With fewer students, the school went massively into debt; Maimonides now owes various government bodies a total of $8 million. This year, Maimonides’ staff has stepped up efforts to find an alternative locale in the suburbs. If their bid
Courtesy of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies
Jay Darling, cartoonist for the New York Herald-Tribune, suggested that German president Paul von Hindenburg had appointed Hitler chancellor in the expectation that the Nazi leader was not up to the job.
Negotiations between the Nazis and other parties then produced a coalition government, with Hitler as chancellor. The Nazis celebrated with a huge torchlight parade through the streets of Berlin on the night of Hitler’s appointment, Jan. 30, 1933. A ‘MODERATE’ HITLER? Relatively little was known in America about Hitler, and many leading newspapers predicted that the Nazis would not turn out to be as bad as some feared. An editorial in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin on Jan. 30 claimed that “there have been indications of moderation” on Hitler’s part. The
Courtesy of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies
Cartoonist Keith Temple, in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, echoed the naive but widespread belief in the West that conservative leaders in the German political and industrial communities would restrain Hitler’s radicalism.
editors of the Cleveland Press, on Jan. 31, asserted that the “appointment of Hitler as German chancellor may not be such a threat to world peace as it appears at first blush.” Officials of the Roosevelt administration were quoted in the press as saying they “had faith that Hitler would act with moderation compared to the extremist agitation [i]n his recent election campaigning... [They] based this belief on past events showing that so-called ‘radical’ groups usually moderated, once in power.” A WAVE OF TERROR In the weeks to follow, however, events on the ground contradicted those optimistic forecasts. Outbursts of anti-Jewish violence were tolerated, and often encouraged and assisted, by the Nazi regime. In early March, for example, the Chicago Tribune published an eyewitness account of “bands of Nazis throughout Germany carr[ying] out wholesale raids to intimidate the opposition, particularly the Jews.” Victims were “hit over the heads with blackjacks, dragged out of their homes in night clothes and otherwise molested,” with many Jews “taken off to jail and put to work in a concentration camp.” The following month, the New York Evening Post reported that the Nazis had launched “a violent campaign of murderous agitation” against Germany’s Jews: “An indeterminate number of Jews... have been killed. Hundreds of Jews have been beaten or tortured. Thousands of Jews have fled. Thousands of Jews have been, or will be deprived of their livelihood. All of Germany’s 600,000 Jews are in terror.” PRESS on page 20
Courtesy of Cnaan Liphshiz
The main cafeteria of Brussels' Maimonides school, Jan. 9, 2013.
fails, the school may shut down later this year, Wajc said – a development that would complete the silent exodus of Jews from central Brussels. “The story of Maimonides is the story of Brussels’ Jewish community and its growing unease in the city,” said Joel Rubinfeld, a Maimonides alumnus and co-chairman of the Brussels-based European Jewish Parliament. It’s not only Brussels. Across Europe, Jews have quietly abandoned long-inhabited neighborhoods in central urban areas for remote suburbs. Unlike in the United States, where the Jewish flight to the suburbs often was part of a larger migration of the affluent from increasing-
ly crime-ridden inner cities, in Europe the wealthier urban precincts are typically the more central ones. But in a number of cities, neighborhoods once teeming with Jewish life have become no-go zones for Jews – especially if they wear a yarmulke. The Jewish population of 80,000 in Marseille, France, has almost completely cleared out of the heavily Muslim city center it inhabited until the 1980s. Similar migrations have taken place in another French city, Lyon, as well as in Amsterdam and even Antwerp – home to one of the last European Jewish communities to live and work almost exclusively in an urban center. BRUSSELS on page 22
10 • ISRAEL
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Netanyahu: ‘Obama knows Israelis determine what their interests are’ By JNS Staff Israel Hayom/ JointMedia News Service Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is still expected to win Israel’s election Tuesday under the combined Likud-Yisrael Beytenu party ticket, spoke to Israel Hayom from his office in Jerusalem. “Many people want to support me as prime minister. I tell them ‘give me the power to succeed, to lead, to face the current turbulence.’ This power will bring a better future for our children. The fact is that we have begun to make a change. We can see it in education, the economy, and our security is stable. “The citizens of Israel see the calm on our security fronts while an unprecedented regional storm rages outside. The citizens of Israel can all go out and have a good time, they can send their children to school without having to worry, as opposed to the way it was just a handful of years ago. These things didn’t happen by themselves. They happened because of smart policy. We behaved responsibly and we avoided waging unnecessary wars. Now we have a young, yet experienced, team. No other party has such a team, or such proven policy success. “At this stage the only ones being ruled out are me and my Likud party. We will outline the policy and guidelines for the next government: strength and security; responsibility and insistence on diplomatic objectives; fiscal responsibility; a more just division of the burden; and lowering the cost of living, particularly the cost of housing. Anyone who wants to align themselves with these objectives will be welcome to do so.” Q: If Labor eventually ends up joining your coalition, how can the party be incorporated into your government in non-economic issues? “When I hear their ideas, the irresponsible fiscal policy, the only partially veiled race to make diplomatic concessions, I don’t see any real foundation for a partnership with the Labor Party. Obviously everyone is entitled to their principles, but practically speaking, after they ruled out joining forces with Likud, and with me personally, I don’t think that partnership is possible.” Q: Looking back, do you regret calling early elections? “No. I think it was necessary. After four years it became impossible to move forward and we couldn’t get a responsible budget approved. It was the right thing to do, like the merger between Likud and Yisrael Beytenu. This is the way to lead the country. “Anything that weakens this party and splits it in different directions will only weaken the State of
Courtesy of Abir Sultan/Flash90
In an interview to Israel Hayom, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said relations between Israel and the U.S. are very strong, but there are also disagreements on how to best achieve peace.
Israel. As long as the joint [Likud Yisrael Beytenu] list remains strong, we can handle the challenges and pressures we face very well. That is what communicates stability. When the ruling party shrinks, it becomes a target for extortion from every direction. “That is why I am always surprised when people tell me: ‘We want to make you stronger by making you weaker.’ There is no way to make me stronger other than voting for the party I head. The idea of making us stronger externally was already tried in the 1992 election and in the 1999 election. The result was that a left-wing party came into power and worked against the very values that the voters had wanted to support.” Q: In the last election you spoke about your “natural partners” – are the same parties still your go-to coalition partners? “Anyone who wants to walk with us on our path is invited to do so and will be a welcome partner. I will say it again: I am not assembling any coalitions right now. “If I look forward, beyond the election, our objectives are clear: We are facing enormous challenges. There is the Iranian nuclear threat, Syrian chemical weapons, and an ever-growing missile threat from Hezbollah and Hamas. We have very big tasks ahead. “Add to these enormous tasks the duty to maintain a strong Israeli economy while the global economic crisis is still ongoing. Who can do all that? When you ask the public, the answer is clear: The only person who can handle all these tasks is a prime minister who has a wide ruling party to lean on. A prime minister with no one to lean on will not be able to do it, because they will be too busy trying to please the coalition members. The only way to ensure that I remain in a leadership position is to vote for the party that I lead.” Q: Is there any possibility that Ehud Barak will continue to serve
as defense minister? (Barak recently announced that he was resigning from politics after the elections.) “He hasn’t asked, and I haven’t offered. Anyway, all this business reminds me of the talk surrounding the alleged spot that Ehud Barak was promised on the Likud list. It never happened. These rumors (about Barak continuing on as defense minister) have the same level of credibility.” Q: Why won’t you divulge who you have pegged for the top positions in your government? “From my vast experience in Israeli politics I know that it is best to first win the election, assemble a coalition, and then decide who to man the cabinet with, both in terms of coalition deals and from an individual perspective. I can tell you that the best and most experienced team is in Likud-Beytenu. Who can compete with that?” Q: Who would you like to see as foreign minister in your next government? “Again, I am not handing out portfolios just yet, but I certainly have an agreement with [Yisrael Beytenu leader and former Foreign Minister] Avigdor Lieberman that I will keep that portfolio in the party. I hope that he can put his personal issues behind him quickly and resume being a senior cabinet minister.” Q: Would you agree to fully merging Likud with Yisrael Beytenu? “We are already talking about a deeper cooperation after the election and there are several ideas as to how to do it. Perhaps the way it was done with Gahal (an acronym for Gush Herut-Liberalim — a major right-wing political faction led by Menachem Begin from its founding in 1965 until it merged into Likud in 1973). But the objective is to remain united because it important for the leadership of the country as well. In Israeli politics, splintering is deadly. It is simply the root of all evil. It is very difficult to run a
Israel Briefs country like Israel, which is full of challenges. What other country faces the kind of pressures that Israel faces? We can’t afford to split up in the face of such challenges.” Q: The ministers in your party have been criticizing President Shimon Peres for interfering in the elections. You have avoided making any such accusations. “The president and I speak to each other a great deal, every few days. There are many things that we agree on, and there are quite a few things on which we disagree. Ultimately, it is the government that shapes Israel’s policies, and the people who elect the government are the citizens of Israel. I am convinced that the president understands that the ones who will decide who the prime minister of Israel will be are, first and foremost, the citizens of Israel. “I behaved differently when I was in the opposition” Earlier this week, Jeffrey Goldberg, a respected commentator considered to be close to U.S. President Barack Obama, published an article on Bloomberg View in which he criticized Israel’s recently announced plan to build hundreds of new housing units in the E1 corridor between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim. According to Goldberg, Obama said after the announcement that Netanyahu was advancing selfdefeating policies and leading Israel toward global isolation. Q: Do Goldberg’s sentiments accurately reflect the views of the U.S. president, in your opinion? “I don’t know. But I think that President Obama knows that only the citizens of Israel will determine what Israel’s vital interests are, and they will be the ones who decide who is best suited to protect these interests in the best possible way.” Q: In your view, is this a case of U.S. intervention in an Israeli election? “I don’t think anybody has any doubt that the citizens of Israel will be the ones to decide, and no one will decide for them. The citizens of Israel can judge for themselves how well we have withstood pressures and protected vital Israeli interests. We did it successfully, and I hope that we will win the public’s trust so that we can continue to do it in the next four years as well. “I can see three main objectives: Preventing Iran from arming themselves with nuclear weapons; preserving our vital security interests and not going back to the 1967 borders, which are indefensible; and keeping Jerusalem united. These are fundamental objectives. We have managed to withstand international pressure and protected these objectives.” NETANYAHU on page 22
Netanyahu wants haredim and Lapid in government, sources say (Israel Hayom / JNS) With just a few days to go before Israelis go to the polls, the ruling party is sending a clear message on the preferred makeup of the next coalition of the Israeli government. All the so-called natural coalition partners (Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Habayit Hayehudi) as well as one or two parties from the Left, will be invited into the next coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is re-elected, Likud sources said Thursday. The way things seem now, the joint Likud-Yisrael Beytenu list will try to convince one or two parties from the Center-Left to join a coalition that includes the ultra-Orthodox parties and other parties from the Right. The Sephardi haredi party Shas, the Ashkenazi haredi United Torah Judaism, and religious-Zionist Habayit Hayehudi will be asked to join first. As for the parties on the Center-Left, it seems that former journalist Yair Lapid’s party, Yesh Atid, is Netanyahu’s first choice. Should the centrist Kadima get enough votes to qualify for Knesset seats, Netanyahu will want to include it in his government, the Likud says. Former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua party is not ruled out as a coalition partner, but it is going to be courted less, the Likud sources say. They stressed that Netanyahu believed a partnership with Labor will not be feasible because its leader, Shelly Yachimovich, has pledged not to join a Likud-led government. The Likud has also denied reports that its renowned campaign guru Arthur Finkelstein has left the campaign. Tel Aviv ranked as one of the world’s top beach cities Tel Aviv, known as the “White City,” placed seventh in the Lonely Planet’s review of top beach cities behind top-ranked Barcelona. Tel Aviv beat cities such as its Middle Eastern neighbor Dubai, Miami, as well as Brighton and Hove in Great Britain on the list. In response to the recognition, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said, “It’s appropriate and right that every potential tourist in the world knows what we all know already—that Tel Aviv-Jaffa is an amazing city, full of surprises, that is not only fun to live in, but also to visit,” according to Israel Hayom.
SOCIAL LIFE • 11
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CEDAR VILLAGE GOLF CLASSIC 2012 Photos continued on page 12.
Beck Vinnie Miller
BIRTH BIRTH obyn Miller and Daniel Miller proudly announce the birth of their son, Beck Vinnie Miller, born on October 5, 2012. Beck’s grandparents are Debbie and Bob Siegel of Cincinnati, and Jane and Don Miller of Columbus.
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Steven Fingerman and Jennifer Cohen
ENGAGEMENT an and Judi Cohen are proud to announce the engagement of their daughter Jennifer to Steven Fingerman, son of Gary and Ilene Fingerman. Jennifer is the granddaughter of Gerald Marks and the late Adele Marks and the late Jerome and Mimi Cohen. Steven is the grandson of Beverly Lipman and the late Morton Lipman and Eleanor Fingerman and the late Lester Fingerman. Jennifer and Steven live in Chicago, Illinois where Jennifer is a corporate meeting planner for Captive Resources and Steven is the national account manager for WatchGuard Technologies. They are planning a June wedding in Chicago.
D Carol Silver Elliott, Barb Reed and Brad Hoicowitz
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14 • DINING OUT
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Ambar India—a tikka masala miracle By Michael Sawan Assistant Editor The feeling of home is unmistakable. Upon my return from Israel and Poland in 2006, as I took my first drive in a month, I passed by Xavier University. I had my windows down, it was a surprisingly mild, late-summer day. After the heat, guns and odd Polish food of my trip, I felt most definitely like I was home. I’ve noticed that some people have multiple homes. Not to say, “Oh, the vase is in my OTHER house,” but in the way that we have multiple familiar places. My “home” chili restaurant is in Oakley. My “home” movie theater is now an empty lot. And my “home” Indian restaurant is Ambar India. I first visited the restaurant about 12 years into its existence. At the time, Indian food still felt brand new to me, despite its presence in Cincinnati for over a decade (and its presence in the world for who knows how long). Since Ambar was the first Indian restaurant I went to, I now can’t help but judge the food by its standard. And to hear the owner of Ambar, Jesse Singh, speak on the subject is to understand the caliber that the restaurant makes for itself. “People see this restaurant as offering a very highly authentic Indian food. Very consistently good, consistently cooked, over the entire period, [be it] last night or ten years ago. Moreover, this restaurant is in one room.” That last statement is a reference to the streamlined, to-the-point attitude that permeates Ambar India. The restaurant does a lot with a little, giving the food and its preparation a platform from which to impress with the least distractions. To that end, Ambar does not have a lunch buffet. Singh thinks of this as a hallmark of the restaurant’s quality: “We are the only Indian restaurant in Cincinnati that does not have a lunch buffet. People order off the menu, and the price and portion is very highly reasonable. People like it. Even though there are a lot of Indian restaurants around us, with buffets, people like our food. That shows the maturity of the customers, they know the difference of the good food, of the quality food.” This “mature customer” is drawn from all parts of the area, representing a spectrum of people that demonstrates a universal bond among all humans; we all like to eat good things. Singh put it this way: “We get families, students, people from all walks of life. Americans, Indians, people from other religions, they all come here. It’s the quality of the food, you know.” When I asked Singh what part of town his customers come from, he took on a exasperated tone. “I never could answer this question. People come from other cities, people come
Courtesy of Michael Sawan
(Clockwise) Some of the friendly faces around Ambar India; Indian art on display around the restaurant; An interior shot of the entry way; The one large dining room of Ambar India.
from Indiana, from Louisville, Xenia, Dayton, from Clifton, from these apartments, from those apartments, from Procter and Gamble, GE...” He ended the list with the cadence of someone who could have continued, if he wanted. But the point had been made. What has been Ambar’s key to success? A big part is the caliber of the food, with Singh allowing one dish in particular to represent the whole: “The Chicken Tikka Masala is a very popular dish. I think people like to eat meats, rich sauces, smooth sauces, flavorful sauces. Chicken Tikka Masala is smooth, highly flavorful.” But this is only part of the equation. Ambar has managed to attain this level of quality day in
and day out for 19 years. But how? “We have assigned every particular job to one different person,” said Singh, “So they do their jobs very, very cleanly, consistently, honestly.” He added, almost as an afterthought, the final common sense trait: “We have got authentic chefs from India.” That’ll do it. Singh also made mention of Ambar’s position in Cincinnati’s Indian restaurant community. Before Ambar there were two Indian restaurants in town. Now there are, by Singh’s estimation, 40. Singh sees himself, and his restaurant, as pivotal in this increase: “Most of the other owners or managers have worked for me at one point in their life, or are related to me. I will not call it all of them, but
most of them, you know.” I prodded Singh to expand on this idea, to explain the emotional reaction to such a series of relationships. He answered with reserve, hesitant to talk too much about himself: “I feel proud inside myself. Since you ask me, and I tell you, but I would never say that to anybody. It feels really good, you know?” There are other details to be proud of. When Ambar moved into its current location on Ludlow Avenue there was much work to be done: “We did change a lot about the place. There was a wall here, there was no carpet here, empty tables, white walls. There were low hanging lights up there, you know. There was a duct coming out here. We did a lot of remodeling.” The building,
which at one time was a yogurt shop, then a vegan restaurant, has held up well. In fact, if it weren’t for the Clifton locale, I’d be surprised that the building had ever been a cement floored, industrial style vegan eatery. With Indian art, friendly staff and the simmer of sauce and Bollywood in the background, Ambar India is a great bet for subcontinent cuisine. Just don’t count on a lunch buffet. Their hours are Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m - 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Ambar India 350 Ludlow Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45220 (513) 281-7000
DINING OUT • 15
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013
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16 • OPINION
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Never going back again Morsi’s anti-Semitism reveals more about us than him
By Rabbi Avi Shafran Contributing Columnist
American politicians tainted by scandal and forced to resign their positions usually explain that they want “to spend more time with their families.” Issam alAryan, a top advisor to Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, who recently tendered his own resignation said he is overly “occupied with my work as head of the Freedom and Justice Party bloc in the Shura Council.” He must not lack for family time. The scandal that attached itself to Mr. al-Aryan was that he had publicly invited Israeli Jews of Egyptian descent to return to their erstwhile home. “Egypt,” he told Jews who had fled Egypt over the years, “is worthier of you than Israel,” which, he explained, is a “racist, occupying entity.” There was no rush of Egyptborn Israelis to take up Mr. alAryan’s offer, or for that matter any evidence of even a single Jewish individual who was enticed by the prospect of leaving a modern, prosperous country, not to mention his ancestral homeland, for a Muslim Brotherhooddominated pit of poverty and political upheaval. What did come quickly, though, was the backlash against the Egyptian politician for his impudent invitation. Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson Mahmoud Ghozlan, for example, lambasted Mr. alAryan, insisting that “Egyptian Jews are criminals who must be punished for what they did to Egypt and the Palestinians.” An associate of Mr. Morsi informed an Egyptian newspaper that Mr. al-Aryan does not represent the presidency’s stance and is not an official presidential spokesman.
In the wake of the criticism, Mr. al-Aryan hastened to clarify his message, explaining that his wish for Jews to return to Egypt had only been “in order to make room [in Israel] for the Palestinians,” and that, in any event, “there will be no such thing as Israel” within a decade. Alas, it was too late for clarifications. Mr. al-Aryan came to be convinced that he needed more time if not for his family then for his Freedom and Justice Party duties. Pronouncements in Egypt about Israel these days, he now realizes, are better left to people like Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cleric Mahmoud alMasri, who recently told his audience on Egyptian television that “Allah willing, Israel will be annihilated because the prophet Muhammad said so,” adding for good measure that “ultimately, not a single Jew will be left on the face of the earth.” No Oliver Cromwell, he; the Hitlerian model is clearly his preference. (Interestingly, comments about Jews made by Mr. Morsi himself recently came to light. In 2010, he referred to the “descendants of apes and pigs,” who “have been fanning the flames of civil strife wherever they were throughout their history” and who are “hostile by nature.” And he told a rally that year that “We must never forget to nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred for… Zionists, for Jews.” The White House and State Department called the comments “deeply offensive” and “unacceptable.” Even The New York Times editorialized that Mr. Morsi’s words were “repulsive,” “scurrilous” and “pure bigotry.”)
OPINION on page 19
By Ben Cohen JointMedia News Service It’s a story that began with an eagle-eyed Jewish blogger and progressed all the way to the White House. In the process, it’s reignited the debate as to whether Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood President, Mohamed Morsi, is really the pragmatic moderate that many believe him to be. On Jan. 3, the blogger, who writes under the name “Challah Hu Akbar,” tweeted an item from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) in which Morsi, in a 2010 speech, uttered what is a standard Islamist anti-Semitic slander, namely that Jews are descended from “apes and pigs.” A little over a week later, noticing that Morsi’s statement had barely registered with the wider media, the Atlantic columnist Jeffrey Goldberg wrote a blog post with the entirely apt headline, “Egyptian President Calls Jews ‘Sons of Apes and Pigs;’ World Yawns.” At Forbes magazine, Richard Behar made an identical point, adding that in the same set of remarks, Morsi had called for a boycott of the United States – whose tax-payers have provided Egypt with billions of dollars in aid – because of its support for Israel. Eventually, the Morsi story found its way into the New York Times, which felt duty-bound to point out that “Mr. Morsi and other political and Brotherhood leaders typically restrict their inflammatory comments to the more ambiguous category of ‘Zionists.’” Actually, it’s not ambiguous at all. Especially since the Second World War, the word “Zionist” has
THE JERUSALEM POST CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Glaser and Fox 5. "I and the Village" painter Chagall 9. ___-esh-Sharif (Temple Mount) 14. Sephardim eat it on Passover 15. Contents of una fontana 16. Grab ___ (eat on the run) 17. "Jaws" craft 18. Repent 20. Camp conveyance 22. Dining table condiment, sometimes 23. Passover month, in 2013 24. Sculptor Yaacov 26. Rachel on "Glee" 27. Practices exogamy 31. "I'll be Your Mirror" photographer Goldin 32. Corn or cycle starter 33. Poet-partisan Kovner 36. 1896 book by Theodor Herzl 41. "S'iz shver tzu zayn ___" ("It's tough being Jewish!") 42. 1960s peace sign 43. Napkin spot 45. Hebrew Scriptures 50. Oklahoma town 53. Middle East diplomat Dennis 54. Benghazi locale 55. Seductress 58. "A Woman of ___"
59. 1960 Grammy co-winner for the song "We've Got Us" 62. Alexander III, e.g. 64. "When General Grant Expelled the Jews" author Jonathan 65. Author Jonathan Safran ___ ("Everything is Illuminated) 66. Director Preminger 67. Contemptuous countenace 68. Cheese in Greek salads 69. "I ___ You Now": #1 Eddie Fisher hit DOWN 1. "Full," on B'way 2. El Al's competitor in the Tel Aviv-Toronto route 3. Linda married to a Beatle 4. Meeting of spirits? 5. Word after ready, self or man 6. Fourth word in the "Star Wars" opening crawl 7. Groove 8. "Your Show of Shows" regular 9. "Good joke!" 10. Take ___ (use public transit) 11. Gladstone, to Disraeli 12. "I'll tell ___..." (Start of "Candlelight" by the Maccabeats) 13. Israel's "Music Director for Life" since 1981
always been code for “Jew” in the capitals of the Muslim world, as well as in the capitals of the late, unlamented communist bloc of states. And in case there was any lingering doubt, a subsequent Morsi item posted by MEMRI, also from 2010, showed the Muslim Brotherhood leader helpfully urging his people “not forget to nurse our children and grandchildren on hatred towards those Zionists and Jews.” Unusually, given the prevailing view that accusations of antiSemitism are a smear cooked up by an unscrupulous Jewish – sorry, I mean Israel – Lobby, condemnation of Morsi did follow. The New York Times published an editorial urging President Obama to directly convey to Morsi that such offensive comments ran counter to the goal of peace. White House spokesman Jay Carney also issued a statement, declaring, “President Morsi should make clear that he respects people of all faiths, and that this type of rhetoric is not acceptable or productive in a democratic Egypt.” Of course, no apology from the Egyptians was forthcoming. Instead, Yasser Ali, Morsi’s spokesman, claimed that his boss’s comments had been taken “out of context,” and were really directed at Israeli “aggression” in Gaza. In fact, Ali’s statement is far less stupid than initially appears; antiSemites in the Arab world know that there is a strong current of opinion in the West that regards their fulminations against Jews as justified, if unfortunately-worded, anger towards Israel. Ali was playing to that particular gallery. And that leads to a broader, far
more important observation. In its editorial, the New York Times asked, “Does Mr. Morsi really believe what he said in 2010? Has becoming president made him think differently about the need to respect and work with all people?” Disgracefully, the Times also argued, “Israelis are not immune to responding in kind either” (a sentence that appeared to have been overlooked by establishment Jewish groups like the American Jewish Committee, which rushed to welcome the editorial.) As for the White House’s Carney, his statement categorized Morsi’s remarks as “religious hatred,” a term that barely scratches the surface of what is really at issue here. For the Morsi affair tells us much more about how antiSemitism is understood in the West than it does about the nature of Islamist anti-Semitism. If the Times is to be believed, then the episode is merely a depressing example of how both sides dehumanize each other with nasty rhetoric. Similarly, the White House wants us to think that Morsi’s offense was religious intolerance. As I’ve long argued, antiSemitism isn’t just another form of bigotry. It is a method of explaining why the world is as it is; incendiary rhetoric against Jews, therefore, isn’t just an afterthought, but the natural consequence of the genuinely-held belief that our planet is in the grips of a Jewish conspiracy. One has to assume the Times would not have questioned whether the anti-Semitic outlooks of Hitler and Stalin were genuinely held, so why do so with Morsi? ANTI-SEMITISM on page 19
– BY DAVID BENKOF
19. 18-wheeler, briefly 21. ___ Somayach (Jerusalem yeshiva) 23. "Hamotzi Lechem ___ Ha'aretz" 24. ___ W (root beer brand) 25. Laments 28. When doubled, plus-size attire 29. "Thou shalt not ___ of it" (Gen. 3:17) 30. US loan agcy. 34. Capable, efficient housewife 35. Regardless 37. 2016 Olympics site 38. Org. founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane 39. ___ Ziona (Israeli city) 40. Collection of like items 44. Bake sale organizer, maybe 46. Dana International's specialty 47. Fill the gas tank to the brim 48. Bit of French on a menu 49. Berle of TV fame 50. Make ___ of (bungle) 51. Former Israeli defense minister Moshe 52. French Holocaust novelist Schwarz-Bart 56. Feature of a fork 57. Bring up, as children 58. "Alice" waitress alongside Linda Lavin's character 60. Salmon-to-be 61. Crossed paths 63. "Night Gallery" host Serling
Answers to this puzzle will be on page 19 in next week’s issue.
JEWISH LIFE • 17
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013
Sedra of the Week
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin EFRAT, Israel – “Miriam led [the women] in song, ‘Sing to God for He is exalted above the arrogant horse and rider He cast into the sea”’ (Exodus 15:21). The splitting of the Red (Reed) Sea was the remarkable miracle that climaxed the Ten Plagues and indisputably confirmed the Hebrews as free people. The Egyptians had chased them into the desert, hoping to force their former slaves to return; Moses extended his hand over the sea, God drove back the waters with a powerful easterly wind and the Israelites entered the sea bed on dry land. The Egyptians pursued the Hebrews, Moses extended his hand a second time, and the waters returned with a vengeance, completely overwhelming the Egyptian cavalry and chariots. Now, the Israelites found themselves in the midst of the sea on dry land, with all of the drowned Egyptians dead on the seashore. “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to God, expressing, ‘I will sing to God for His great victory, horse and rider He cast into the sea...’” (Exodus 15:19). With the conclusion of this male paean of praise to the Almighty for His wonders, the Bible records the activity of the women at the
SHABBAT SHALOM: PARSHAT BESHALACH EXODUS 10:1-13:16 scene: “Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a drum in her hand and all the women followed with drums and with dancing. And Miriam led them in song, ‘Sing to God for His great victory, horse and rider He cast into the sea’” (ibid. 20 21). Apparently, Moses and Miriam sang the same lengthy song, although the Bible only repeats the first verse in its description of the women’s celebration. The great Hellenistic philosopher Philo Judaeus (20 BCE- 50 CE) suggests that the men and women sang together. Rashi (ad loc.), citing the Mechilta, interprets that “Moses sang the song to the men, he sang the song and they responded after him, and Miriam sang the song to the women (and they responded after her, as it is written ‘sing’ [shiru]).” The Malbim (Rabbi Meir Leibush Weiser, 1809-1879) adds that “the women claimed that all of this (the redemption from Egypt) occurred in their merit (Miriam and Princess Batya saved Moses, Shiphrah and Puah defied Pharaoh). Therefore, they insisted on singing separately, since they had (such) a (large) share in the miracles” (ad loc.). And Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch has them singing in tandem, with the men initiating the song and women responding by repeating it. He emphasizes that the women’s singing was of equal importance to the men’s. What is most remarkable about the description of this biblical scene and its various commentaries is that no one seems concerned about “Kol Isha,” the prohibition against hearing a woman sing since “a woman’s voice is a
sexual stimulus” (B.T. Brachot 24a). Indeed, the Israeli news was filled with debates about religious soldiers who walked out of a military ceremony when a group of women began to sing. One head of a hesder yeshiva (under whose auspices soldiers combine studies with military service) declared that one is forbidden from hearing a woman sing even under pain of death, although he later admitted that he had been exaggerating to make his point. When we study the actual sources of Kol Isha and the commentaries of rabbinic decisors, the incident at the Reed Sea appears much more normative than the attitude of the yeshiva head. Most importantly, the Talmudic passage stating that “a woman’s voice is a sexual stimulus” is written in the context of retaining concentration when reciting the Shema prayer. Rav Hai Gaon (cited in the Otzar Hagaonim, Interpretations to Brachot 24 and in the Mordechai to Brachot siman 80), Rabbenu Hannanel (Brachot ibid.) and the Raviyah (Rabbi Eliezer ben Yoel Halevi) all limit the prohibition of a man hearing a woman sing to someone who is reciting the Shema. Rav Yosef Karo’s Code of Jewish Law (Shulhan Aruch Orah Haim 75:3) rules that, “There is reason to be careful lest one hear the voice of a woman vocalist when one is reciting the Shema.” Rabbi Moshe Isserlis (Krakow, 15201572) adds, “Even if the vocalist is one’s wife, but a voice to which one is accustomed is not considered to be a sexual stimulus.” SEDRA on page 19
T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: BESHALACH (SHMOT 13:16—17:16)
3. What protected the Children of Israel before Hashem split the sea?
4. What did the Children of Israel complain about on the 15th day of the second month (one month) after they left Egypt? a.) Heat b.) Water c.) Lack of Bread 5. Where were the Children of Israel tested if they would follow Hashem's Torah? a.) Mann b.) If they would walk thru the Red Sea c.) If they would fight Amalek (5:21) they worried that they would die in Egypt. Rashi 3. A,C 14:19 The cloud did not disappear at night,but guarded the Children of Israel from behind. Rashi
2. What was the Children of Israel's reaction when seeing Pharaoh's army? a.) Total trust in Hashem b.) Shock c.) Fear
a.) The pillar cloud b.) Pillar of fire c.) An angel of Hashem
4. C 16:1-3 5. A 16:4,16,25 the Children of Israel were commanded to gather an “omer” per person each day and to gather a “double portion” on Friday
Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise
ANSWERS 1. B 14:3-4 2. C 14:11-12 They prayed like the Patriarchs who prayed when in distress. They also said that earlier
1. What caused Pharaoh to chase after the Children of Israel? a.) To take back the money the Children of Israel took b.) the Children of Israel were locked between the land and the sea c.) To take revenge for the ten plagues
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because there would be no Mann on Shabbat. Or the test was if they would eat the Mann or look for other sources of food. Rashi and Ramban.
18 • JEWZ IN THE NEWZ
JEWZ
IN THE
By Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist MOVIE 43: QUITE A CAST Opening on Friday, Jan. 25, is “Movie 43,” which is “officially descibed” as: “An outrageous new ensemble comedy not for the easily-offended. It contains jaw-dropping, sometimes shockingly disturbing, but always entertaining intertwined storylines you’ll have to see to believe.” The film has 12 different segments and 12 credited directors, including ELIZABETH BANKS, 38, and BRETT RATNER, 43. The huge cast includes Banks, LIEV SCHREIBER, 45, and CHRISTOPHER MINTZPLASSE, 23 (his mother is Jewish). Other “A-listers” in the cast include Schreiber’s life partner, Naomi Watts; Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Richard Gere, Kate Winslet, Uma Thurman and Josh Duhamel. The film was shot over four years so the directors could work with these stars as their schedules allowed. ACTORS HONOR ACTORS The 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be presented on Sunday, Jan. 27. It will be telecast, live, on TNT and TBS cable at 8PM. The film and TV nominees do not differ that much from the Golden Globe nominees. One highlight will be the presentation, by CARL REINER and Alec Baldwin, of the SAG lifetime achievement award to Dick Van Dyke, 87. Reiner, 90, made Van Dyke a star when he cast him in “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” which Reiner created and mostly wrote. Daniel Day-Lewis, whose mother was Jewish, is nominated for best film actor (“Lincoln”); ALAN ARKIN, 78, is up for the SAG award for best supporting actor (“Argo”); and Helen Hunt is up for best supporting film actress for playing therapist CHERYL COHEN-GREENE in “The Sessions.” All three were also nominated for a Golden Globe (Day-Lewis won) and all three are Oscar nominees for these roles this year. (Frankly, it would be an upset of monumental proportions if DayLewis doesn’t sweep the Globe, SAG award, and Oscar this year. ) The SAG awards include an award for best ensemble cast in a film, and Arkin, along with the rest of the “Argo” cast, is up for that award. Other film casts nominated include: “Les Miserables” (SACHA BARON COHEN, 41) and “Lincoln” (JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT, 31). JULIANNA MARGULIES, 46, the star of “The Good Wife,” is the only Jewish individual award TV nominee (best lead actress in a TV drama). However, quite a few Hebrews are up for a SAG trophy
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as ensemble cast members of TV dramas or comedies. Drama (“main cast”) nominees include MICHAEL STUHLBARG, 44 (“Boardwalk Empire”); MANDY PATINKIN, 60 (“Homeland”), and BEN FELDMAN, 32 (“Mad Men”) Comedy nominees include: JUDAH FRIEDLANDER, 43, (“30 Rock”); SIMON HELBERG, 32, MAYIM BIALIK, 37, and MELISSA RAUCH, 32 (“Big Bang Theory”); PAUL LIBERSTEIN, 45, and B. J. NOVAK, 33 (“The Office”); and DIANNA AGRON, 26 (“Glee”). MORE BIG BANG AND TV NEWS KEVIN SUSSMAN, 42, who plays comic book store owner Stuart Bloom on “Big Bang,” was promoted to series regular this season. If “Big Bang” is nominated again next year for a SAG ensemble award – and that’s likely – he’ll be nominated, too, for his work this season. By the way, in the “allnew” Jan. 31 episode of “Big Bang,” Howard Wolowitz (Helberg) is feeling a little guilty for leaving his (Jewish) mother alone in her house now that he is married and living with his wife, Bernadette (Rauch). So, he sends his Asian-American friend Raj over to check on his mother and, as Helberg told the press: “Raj’s meek nature is no match for Mrs. Wolowitz, who sucks him into her world of Jewish guilt and food, and he can’t leave.” Sussman’s regular status on “Big Bang” makes it second only to “How I Met Your Mother” in terms of Jewish actors’ percentage of the main cast of a broadcast network show. “HIMYM” has three Jewish leads out of five regulars (JASON SEGEL, 32, JOSH RADNOR, 38, and ALYSON HANNIGAN, 38). The Feb. 4 episode of “HIMYM” features the return of star character Robin (Cobie Smulders), who is supposed to be Canadian. A bunch of real-life Canadian celebs guest star including “Letterman” band leader PAUL SHAFFER, 63; GEDDY LEE, 59, the bass player and frontman of the famous rock band “Rush”; and STEVEN PAGE, 42, who is best known as the former lead vocalist of the rock group Barenaked Ladies (he went solo in 2009). SPORTS SHORT Due to an oversight, I left one Jewish NHL player off my list last week of the Jewish hockey players in the big league. The player is MIKE BROWN, 27, right wing, Toronto Maple Leafs. The others, once again, are: MICHAEL CAMMALLERI, 30, Calgary; JEFF HALPERN, 36, NY Rangers; and ERIC NYSTROM, 29, Dallas Stars.
FROM THE PAGES 150 Y EARS A GO Pike’s Opera House – Matilda Heron will close a very successful engagement on Saturday evening. She has appeared during the week in her beautiful play of the Belle of the Season, also as Camille, a character which she stands unrivalled. Camille will be repeated tonight for her benefit and last night but one. Tomorrow afternoon there will be a grand Matinee, when will be presented the Spanish Ballet entitled La Maja deSevilla also the spectacular play of the French Spy, in which the celebated Zavistowski Troupe and dramatic company will appear. Admission fifteen cents to all parts of the house. Next week Mr. Pike will produce a new play, written by our fellow townsman, Judge Carter, entitled Les Miserables, dramatized from the celebrated work of that name. The piece has been in preparation for several weeks, and will be produced with new scenery, dresses and appointments. The piece will doubtless attract large audiences, it being the production of home talent. – February 6, 1863
125 Y EARS A GO Miss Emma Korsoski, of Peoria, Ill., who has been visiting her cousin, Miss Celia Wise, of Hopkins Streeet, is visiting Mrs. A. S. Ochs, of Chattanooga. The young lady will spend a few days in this city upon her return from the South, and previous to her departure for her Western home. There will be given shortly a “calico party” by a number of wellknown society young men of this city. The affair will be conducted on the most novel principles; indeed, the sexes will be reversed completely and the fortunate male participants must practice the arts and wiles of the gentler sex in order to be “in the swim.” It will be the affair of the season. A most delightful affair was given on the 10th inst. in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Max Loewenstein, of Vicksburg, Miss. It was a real oldfashioned leap-year party, and the details were carried out in a royal manner. Mesdames Karl Weihl. N. Wachtel, S. Adelsdorfer and J. Sachs were the leading spirits, and their names are a sufficient guarantee that there was lots of fun. During her stay here Mrs. Loewenstein was the recipient of much attention from friends and relatives and that she enjoyed her visit is certain. – January 27, 1888
100 Y EARS A GO “Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end shall greatly increase.” This verse of the sacred poet may well be taken as the motto for the history of the
Hebrew Union College. Several attempts since 1840 to establish a Rabbinical school on American soil, but for some reason or other they all failed. It was the providential task of Isaac M. Wise, with his indomitable perseverence, his great proactical foresight, and his unique powers as organizer and leader of men, after years of untiring efforts, to carry out the long cherished plan. With scarce funds – ten thousand dollars donated by Henry Adler, the brother of Rabbi Liebman Adler, of Chicago, in 1872 – he went to work. On October 3rd, 1875, the Hebrew Union College opened, with 17 students sitting at the feet of the master, who was assisted by Mr. Solomon Eppinger. The Sabbath School rooms of the Congregation Bene Israel and afterwards of Congregation Bene Yeshurun served as the place of instruction. New Hebrew Union College buildings – dedicated on Clifton Avenue in Cincinnati, Wednesday, January 22, 1913. The new buildings stand on a splendid height near the University of Cincinnati, and the spacious and ample grounds furnish a beautiful setting to the same. Thus the hopes and longings of many years are now realized. May the work to be done in the new building uphold the ideals cherished by the founder of the College, Isaac M. Wise, and may the future of Hebrew Union College in its new surroundings continue the splendid traditions fostered during the thirtyseven years of its existence. – January 23, 1913
75 Y EARS A GO The final lecture in the series, “Changing Forms in Government,” will be delivered by Alfred Bettman Tuesday, Feb. 1st, at 8 p.m. Mr. Bettman, who will speak on “What Is American Democracy?” is well known to Cincinnatians as chariman of the City Planning Commission, recently re-elected, and as district chairman of the National Resources Committee. – January 27, 1938
50 Y EARS A GO Mr. and Mrs. Sam Ehrlich, 1610 Shenandoah Avenue, cordially invite their relatives and friends to worship with them Saturday, Jan. 26, at 9 a.m. at Ohav Shalom Synagogue, 1834 Section Road, when their son, Ronnie Paul, will be called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah. A Kiddush will follow the services. A reception in Ronnie’s honor will be held at their home Sunday, Jan. 27, from 2 to 5 p.m. No cards. Ronnie is the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Aronoff and the late Mr. and Mrs. Julius Ehrlich
and the great-grandson of Mr. Gittleman. – January 24, 1963
25 Y EARS A GO Rabbi David I. Indich will retire as spiritual leader of Golf Manor Synagogue, on or about Aug. 1. Indich announced his intention to retire from the active rabbinate at the synagogue board meeting Jan. 18. In a letter to the congregation Jan. 19, he wrote, “My three great loves have been my family, my shul and the Cincinnati Jewish community.” Indich has led the congregation for 36 years, assuming the pulpit at the old Forest Avenue Synagogue on April 1, 1952. “He took over a small Orthodox congregation and forged it into one of the outstanding congregations in the Midwest,” said William Kaiser, chairman of the board of Golf Manor Synagogue. “Taking the B’nai Jacob (Polish) Congregation and Anshe Sholom (Romanian) Congregation, he masterfully and diplomatically led them and fused them into a homogeneous group. From a membership of approximately 100, the congregation has grown to well over 300 until it has become the synagogue of the community.” – January 28, 1988
10 Y EARS A GO “This show is going to be a real treat for people of all ages,” said Kenn Hust, pianist. Hust will accompany Pamela Myers in her live show for the JCC Sunday, Feb. 9, at 3:30 p.m., at the Cincinnati Country Day theater, 6905 Given Rd., Indian Hill. “Pam is such a versatile and personable performer, everyone will enjoy her music,” Hust said. “I’ll be singing songs from the shows I’ve enjoyed in my 30 years on the stage,” said Myers. Younger audience members will enjoy lighter selections like Snoopy’s song “Poor Sweet Baby” from “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” and older members of the audience will appreciate more sophisticated pieces like “Did I Do Something Wrong” from “Love & Shrimp.” A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music, Myers has appeard many times on Broadway, in Cincinnati and across the country. She was nominated for a Tony for her role of Marta in “Company,” and recently starred in the Broadway revival of “Into the Woods.” This special performance for the JCC is her first appearance onstage in Cincinnati since she left town to do “Into the Woods” last fall. “Pam has such as good-natured personality, she is very easy to work with,” said Hust. January 30, 2003
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013
CLASSIFIEDS • 19
COMMUNITY DIRECTORY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS Access (513) 373-0300 • jypaccess.org Big Brothers/Big Sisters Assoc. (513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.org Camp Ashreinu (513) 702-1513 Camp at the J (513) 722-7258 • mayersonjcc.org Camp Chabad (513) 731-5111 • campchabad.org Camp Livingston (513) 793-5554 • camplivingston.com Cedar Village (513) 754-3100 • cedarvillage.org Chevra Kadisha (513) 396-6426 Cincinnati Community Kollel (513) 631-1118 • kollel.shul.net Cincinnati Community Mikveh (513) 351-0609 • cincinnatimikveh.org Eruv Hotline (513) 351-3788 Fusion Family (513) 703-3343 • fusionnati.org Halom House (513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.com Hillel Jewish Student Center (Miami) (513) 523-5190 • muhillel.org Hillel Jewish Student Center (UC) (513) 221-6728 • hillelcincinnati.org Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati 513-961-0178 • jcemcin.org Jewish Community Center (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org Jewish Community Relations Council (513) 985-1501 Jewish Family Service (513) 469-1188 • jfscinti.org Jewish Federation of Cincinnati (513) 985-1500 • shalomcincy.org Jewish Foundation (513) 214-1200 Jewish Information Network (513) 985-1514 JVS Career Services (513) 985-0515 • jvscinti.org Kesher (513) 766-3348 Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556 Shalom Family (513) 703-3343 • myshalomfamily.org The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education (513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.org Vaad Hoier (513) 731-4671 Workum Fund (513) 899-1836 • workum.org YPs at the JCC (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org
CONGREGATIONS Adath Israel Congregation (513) 793-1800 • adath-israel.org Beit Chaverim (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Beth Israel Congregation (513) 868-2049 • bethisraelcongregation.net Congregation Beth Adam (513) 985-0400 • bethadam.org Congregation B’nai Tzedek (513) 984-3393 • btzbc.com Congregation Ohav Shalom (513) 489-3399 • ohavshalom.org
Congregation Ohr Chadash (513) 252-7267 • ohrchadashcincinnati.com Congregation Sha’arei Torah shaareitorahcincy.org Congregation Zichron Eliezer 513-631-4900 • czecincinnati.org Golf Manor Synagogue (513) 531-6654 • golfmanorsynagogue.org Isaac M. Wise Temple (513) 793-2556 • wisetemple.org Kehilas B’nai Israel (513) 761-0769 Northern Hills Synagogue (513) 931-6038 • nhs-cba.org Rockdale Temple (513) 891-9900 • rockdaletemple.org Temple Beth Shalom (513) 422-8313 • tbsohio.org Temple Sholom (513) 791-1330 • templesholom.net The Valley Temple (513) 761-3555 • valleytemple.com
EDUCATION Chai Tots Early Childhood Center (513) 234.0600 • chaitots.com Chabad Blue Ash (513) 793-5200 • chabadba.com Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.net HUC-JIR (513) 221-1875 • huc.edu JCC Early Childhood School (513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.org Kehilla - School for Creative Jewish Education (513) 489-3399 • kehilla-cincy.com Mercaz High School (513) 792-5082 x104 • mercazhs.org Kulanu (Reform Jewish High School) 513-262-8849 • kulanucincy.org Regional Institute Torah & Secular Studies (513) 631-0083 Rockwern Academy (513) 984-3770 • rockwernacademy.org Sarah’s Place (513) 531-3151 • sarahsplacecincy.com
ORGANIZATIONS American Jewish Committee (513) 621-4020 • ajc.org American Friends of Magen David Adom (513) 521-1197 • afmda.org B’nai B’rith (513) 984-1999 BBYO (513) 722-7244 Hadassah (513) 821-6157 • cincinnati.hadassah.org Jewish Discovery Center (513) 234.0777 • jdiscovery.com Jewish National Fund (513) 794-1300 • jnf.org Jewish War Veterans (513) 204-5594 • jwv.org NA’AMAT (513) 984-3805 • naamat.org National Council of Jewish Women (513) 891-9583 • ncjw.org State of Israel Bonds (513) 793-4440 • israelbonds.com Women’s American ORT (513) 985-1512 • ortamerica.org
DO YOU WANT TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED? Send an e-mail including what you would like in your classified & your contact information to
business@ americanisraelite.com or call Erin at 621-3145 OPINION from page 16 Melodiously chanted in the Jewish background as Mr. alAryan’s travails transpired were the Torah portions read in synagogues around the world, about the original Jewish sojourn in Egypt, the one that came to a famous end with the ten plagues and the exodus. That first emigration from Egypt, of course, also begat some – how shall we put it? – negativity on the part of the Egyptian leadership of the time. Whether Pharaoh, in leading his army to pursue the Jews he had earlier begged to leave wanted to return them to Egypt (presaging Mr. al-Aryan’s ill-fated approach) or to wipe out the Jewish people entirely (providing Mr. al-Masri with yet another historical model), he made his move and met his fate. ANTI-SEMITISM from page 16 There are two reasons. Firstly, the misguided view that antiSemitism is essentially a European phenomenon, and thus an alien import into the Muslim world that will disappear once the IsraeliPalestinian conflict is resolved. That reflects, secondly, an enormous ignorance about the origins of anti-Semitism in the Muslim world and its centrality to the Muslim Brotherhood’s worldview. In his masterpiece “Terror and Liberalism,” the scholar Paul Berman quotes Sayid Qutb, the leading theoretician of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was formed in 1928, twenty years before the birth of the State of Israel, as writing SEDRA from page 17 To be sure, the Hatam Sofer forbids hearing a woman sing, or even speak, regardless of any connection to the recitation of the Shema and there are certainly latter-day decisors who rule likewise. I do not know of any posek who would permit listening to women who are singing sexually suggestive songs; I would even forbid listening to a man singing such songs (kol ish). But more contemporary rulings are those of Rabbi Yehiel Weinberg (Montreux, 1884-1966) in his Sridei Aish (Part 2 Siman 8) who permits young men and women singing together in the context of a religious youth group, the Sdei Hemed (Rav Hizkiyahu
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(513) 531-9600 Interestingly, despite that determined pursuit and the fact that Egypt enslaved our ancestors for hundreds of years, we Jews are charged by the Torah to “not hate an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land” (Devarim 23:8). We must actually feel a degree of gratitude for Egypt’s having hosted our forebears for so long. And yet, in no less than three places, the Torah forbids Jews from returning to live in Egypt (e.g. Devarim 17:16). There’s something about the place, it seems, that contraindicates a Jewish presence. So Mr. al-Masri needn’t fret – at least not about any large-scale return of Hebrews from their ancestral land. He might though, along with Mr. Ghozlan and Morsi, give some cautious thought to the synagogue Torah readings these weeks. that “most evil theories which try to destroy all values and all that is sacred to mankind are advocated by Jews.” Elsewhere in the book, Berman painstakingly documents Qutb’s frankly Hitlerian view of the Jewish role in world history, including his repeated assertions that Jews had conspired against Muslims from the dawn of Islam. These were the ideological foundations of the Muslim Brotherhood then, and they remain firmly in place now. Any compromise with the Jews, such as a peace treaty with Israel, would therefore be another twist in the same conspiracy. According to Qutb and his followers, the only honorable path is to vanquish the Jews entirely. Medini, 1833-1905) who permits men to listen to a woman singing songs of sanctity even if she is a soloist, and Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld, the son-in-law of the Hatam Sofer, known as the Hatan Sofer, who rules that several voices together in a kind of choir situation is always permitted, since “two voices singing together makes each individual voice unrecognizable and indistinguishable.” Hence the women singing at the sea was perfectly permissible as it was a song of sanctity sung by many voices at the same time. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone Chief Rabbi – Efrat Israel
20 • BUSINESS
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New memorial fund extends honor to influential educator By Michael Sawan Assistant Editor The Jacob R. Hatfield Memorial Fund will be donating $100 worth of books to Jackie’s Corner, a reading area in the JCC’s Early Childhood School (JCCECS). The gesture is filled with significance. Jacob Hatfield attended JCCECS roughly 20 years ago. His mother, Sandy Hatfield, recalls his first day vividly: “Jacob started at the JCC Early Childhood School in the fall of 1993, at 18 months. (Keep in mind, Jacob always “marched to the beat of his own drum”!) The first person he met on the way in the door was Jackie Sachs. Looking at Jacob, wearing his cowboy boots, shorts and a tank top, Jackie welcomed him
and told him how handsome he looked! Jacob responded, like Elvis, “Thank you, thank you very much!” It was a match made in heaven... Jacob with the JCCECS, Jackie, Magic Jeff and the entire staff.” The relationship grew over the years, a bond developing out of a kindred-spirit appreciation that bridged generations. “When Jackie found out that Jacob’s birthday was on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, she told him she wished her birthday was on Feb. 14 because she LOVED hearts,” explained Sandy. “Jackie even has a heart on her gravestone. From that point on, Jacob always gave Jackie a Valentine’s Day card and a birthday card with hearts. Knowing that this was going to become a long friendship, I
always looked for birthday cards loaded with hearts.” Sandy wasn’t mistaken. Even after Jacob’s graduation from JCC-ECS to Rockwern Academy (formerly Yavneh Day School), the student and his former teacher kept close. “We always continued to mail her a birthday card, loaded with hearts,” said Sandy. “When we or he would see her, he would always hug her.” When Jackie passed away in October 2010, it didn’t take long for JCC-ECS to establish a memorial in her honor. Known as Jackie’s Corner, this reading area in the JCC-ECS is devoted especially to her memory. Sandy even recalls Jacob’s response to the memorial: “Jacob thought that was awesome! He always loved Jackie, even as an adult.”
Tragedy has a way of striking more than once. On June 30, 2012, Jacob Hatfield passed away in his sleep at the age of 20. His mother recalls the awful details: “As it turned out, the left lung, the one that rests over the heart, should not weigh any more than 470 grams. Jacob’s left lung weighed almost 800 grams. His right lung weighed 751 grams. My son’s lungs were filled with bronchitis and pneumonia. As a mother, I failed him because I didn’t know he was that sick. If I did, he would have been either at the doctor’s or the hospital. When Jacob went to sleep the night of June 29, he was in a reclining position. The weight of his left lung was pushing down on his heart. The heart had a hard time pumping because it had all of that pressure from his lung. His
heart just couldn’t take the pressure of the lung any longer and it shut down.” Through the grieving, Sandy established The Jacob Hatfield Memorial Fund. In honor of his son’s lasting relationship with his teacher, the fund’s first act is to make a donation of books to Jackie’s Corner. There is even an official presentation in the works: “I’ve spoken with Judy Neugebauer at the ECS and have left a message with Denise Schnur, the site director,” said Sandy. “Judy was going to call Jackie’s husband, and I am going to call him, too. I’m sure he’d love to be there.” In this final bond, the two friends’ memories will be sealed together in one last gesture: The little boy in his cowboy boots, and the educator with heart to spare.
Yonanas—a healthy alternative to ice-cream
froze them in a re-sealable plastic bag.
The instructions recommend thawing for 7-10 minutes, but since they were frozen more than a typical freezer and my drive to work is 20 minutes, they were thawed for closer to 30 minutes. I think there is a bit of leeway. What seems important is that if they are too frozen, it will be too difficult to push them through the machine. If they are too soft, the consistency will be too mushy. Honestly, there were those in the office with serious doubts about this machine and its product. That’s why I decided to try it out on them and not at home. I figured who better to give an un-biased opinion than a doubting-Thomas? The machine assembly was simple. The cord is short, as are most kitchen appliances these days. We plugged it in, put a bowl underneath the spout, turned it on
and started shoving the bananas down the shoot with the plunger. We had no other fruit to alternate with as we were being purists. It took some pressure to push the bananas through the shoot and past the high-tourque blade. Lo and behold, out flowed a creamy, ice-cream-like substance into the bowl. We emulsified all the frozen bananas and divided the finished product into portions for all those brave souls willing to give it a try. Even the most doubting of us was pleased. Being that I love bananas and detest soft-serve, I must admit that the resemblence to soft-serve is only visual. The consistency was heavier, which was an improvement over soft-serve. I can’t tell you why it works, but it was creamy like regular ice-cream without the crystals. The only direction we didn’t
follow completely, and I recommend you do, is to remove the chute assembly and remove the remaining bananas. There was a significant amount left in the machine. Next time, I am definitely going to try some berries or nuts, or both. I’m not sure if adding berries and/or nuts during the process or after would be better. Clean up was easy, too. The disassembly was easy and hand washing a snap. Few parts and no hidden crevices would make “dishwasher safe” into “dishwasher effective.” Whether you want a healthy alternative to ice-cream; a parve alternative; a lactose-free alternative; or just a fun dessert your kids can help you make, Yonanas will foot the bill. Yonanas is sold locally at many fine retailers.
rise to power, the New York Times ran a front-page feature about the Fuhrer that presented him in a flattering light. For Hitler, it was a golden opportunity to soften his image by praising President Roosevelt as well as a platform to deliver lengthy justifications of his totalitarian policies and attacks on Jews. The article, titled “Hitler Seeks Jobs for All Germans,” began with Hitler’s remark that FDR was looking out “for the best interests and welfare of the people of the United States.” He added: “I have sympathy with President Roosevelt because he marches straight toward his objective over Congress, over lobbies, over stubborn bureaucracies.” The story was based on an interview with the Nazi leader by Times correspondent Anne O’Hare McCormick. She gave Hitler paragraph after paragraph to explain his policies as necessary to address Germany’s unemployment, improve
its roads, and promote national unity. The Times correspondent lobbed the Nazi chief softball questions such as “What character in history do you admire most, Caesar, Napoleon, or Frederick the Great?” McCormick also described Hitler’s appearance and mannerisms in a strongly positive tone: Hitler is “a rather shy and simple man, younger than one expects, more robust, taller... His eyes are almost the color of the blue larkspur in a vase behind him, curiously childlike and candid... His voice is as quiet as his black tie and his double-breasted black suit... Herr Hitler has the sensitive hand of the artist.” Whatever her intentions, articles like McCormick’s helped dull the American public’s awareness of the dangers of Nazism. The image of a pro-American moderate undermined the chances for mobilizing serious international opposition to Hitler during the early months of his regime.
BELGIUM from page 8
ically with the Nazi occupation in hunting down its Jews and Roma, or gypsies. On Jan. 9, a decade after the center launched its probe, the Senate adopted some of its findings. “Part of the delay owed to how on the French-speaking side, relevant documents had not been properly kept, whereas Flemish authorities archived them meticulously,” Maes said. “There were concerns this disparity in documentation could create a lopsided report.” In addition, no politician was eager to add Holocaust complicity to the list of tensions that already burden the relationship between Walloons and Flemish, Maes said. There was another inconvenient truth as well. According to Dr. Eric Picard, founder of the Brusselsbased Association for the Memory of the Shoah, about 25 percent of the Jewish population in French-speaking Belgium was murdered, compared to 75 percent of Flanders’similarly sized Jewish community.
By Jory Edlin Assistant Editor Marketed as a parve ice cream maker, Yonanas “makes it possible to add non-dairy, soft-serve healthy ice cream dishes and toppers to your meat meals. “The small machine enlists a high torque blade that emulsifies the frozen, ripe bananas into a thick and creamy frozen treat, with patented technology that’s superior to a blender or food processor. Affordable and innovative, it’s especially popular with people who want to lose weight and stay in shape, as well as vegans, diabetics and those who are lactose intolerant.” I took the most simple, plain approach for my first try-out of Yonanas. I bought and ripened six bananas, and then peeled and PRESS from page 9 The Hitler regime was determined to eliminate the Jewish community from German society. During the Nazis’ first weeks in power, violence and intimidation were used to force Jewish judges, attorneys, journalists, university professors, and orchestra conductors and musicians out of their jobs. A law passed on April 7 required the dismissal of Jews from all government jobs. Additional legislation in the months to follow banned Jews from a whole range of professions, from dentistry to the movie industry. The government even sponsored a one-day nationwide boycott of Jewish businesses, with Nazi storm troopers stationed outside Jewish-owned stores to prevent customers from entering. Hitler’s ‘sensitive hand’ Nevertheless, in July 1933, nearly six months after Hitler’s
Yonanas Banana Ice Cream Maker creates a healthy treat.
“We thought about it for a long time but we never did as we feared, at the time, it might get them into trouble with their heavily Nazi family,” she told JTA. Like Degrelle, hundreds of Belgians – many of them police officers – were involved directly in hunting down Jews. Not a single Belgian municipality refused the Nazi occupiers’ orders to register the Jews in their jurisdictions. Only one, in the Brussels region, refused to hand out yellow stars. These facts were documented in an 1,100-page report, “Obedient Belgium,” that was released in 2007 by the Center for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society five years after the federal body started its work at the Belgian Senate’s request. The report found that the Belgian state collaborated systemat-
FOOD / AUTOS • 21
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013
All About Food Zell’s Bites
GOLDIE JEAN’S BEER BREAD Makes 1 loaf This is a quick recipe for a delicious sourdough bread.
by Zell Schulman I used to bake bread a lot when my children were little. It was a fun project we shared. I was planning a “Drop In” party for several of my neighbors and, while planning my menu and looking through my hundreds of recipes, I came across several bread recipes. Goldie Jean’s Beer Bread was always one of my favorites. It brought back wonderful memories of my days as a student at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, where I graduated in 1950.
This Beer Bread was one of Goldie’s favorites. It could always be found on her party buffets. The Jewish student body at the University numbered between 75 – 100. There was both a Jewish sorority, Sigma Delta Tau, and a Jewish fraternity, Zeta Beta Tau. The Jewish community felt a responsibility for the Jewish students, so they paired those Jewish students who wanted one with a Jewish “host” family. Mine was Goldie Jean and Harold Fine. They were wonderful to me. I was invited to their home for Sabbath and Jewish holidays and they introduced me to the Jewish community. There was both a Reformed Temple and a Conservative Synagogue. The Jewish community was small but very caring. If someone was to tell me that years later, Harold’s brother Raymond Fine would turn out to be my brother-in-law, I wouldn’t have believed it. You know what they say, “life is stranger than fiction.” Goldie and Harold entertained a lot over the years. I was privileged to meet most of the Lexington Jewish Community. This Beer Bread was one of Goldie’s favorites. It could always be found on her party buffets.
Ingredients 3 cups self-rising flour 1 can dark beer, room temperature 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon unsalted butter Method Grease a 4-cup loaf pan. Line it with wax or parchment paper. Grease the paper. Mix the flour, sugar and beer together in a large bowl. Place in the prepared loaf pan. Cover lightly and allow to rise 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Bake the bread approximately 1 hour or until you can hear a hollow sound when thumped with your fingers. 3. Remove the bread from the oven. Cool 15 minutes. Brush the top with melted butter. Remove from the pan, slice and serve. APRICOT-RAISIN-DATE BREAD Makes 1 loaf This bread is tasty, healthy and makes a perfect snack with afternoon tea on a cold winter’s day. Serve it with apple butter and invite a few friends over to enjoy it with you. Ingredients 12 dried apricots 2 large eggs 1/2 cup pitted dates 1/2 cup dark raisins 2-1/4 cups unbleached flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon baking powder 2/3 cup milk 1/2 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup unprocessed bran cereal 1/2 cup safflower oil Processor Method l. Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 inch bread pan. 2. Insert metal blade. Add apricots and dates. Pulse several times to chop. Place in a bowl with the raisins and cover with boiling water. Let sit for l0 minutes. Drain well and mix with 3 tablespoons sugar. Set aside. 3. Into the processor bowl, add the remaining sugar, oil and eggs. Process 60 seconds. 4. Sift the dry ingredients together. Add alternately with milk and bran to oil mixture, processing l5 seconds after each addition. Fold in dried fruits. 5. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for l hour, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, cool l0 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool on a cake rack.
2013 Jaguar XK—the beauty is in the pounce Save “cold” for the Germans, and square for the domestics. The Jaguar XK has classic, ground-hugging proportions, with a long hood, powerful contours and minimal overhangs. Its sweeping, athletic lines hold immense visual energy. In short: This is a strikingly beautiful car. But it also has intelligence. Aluminum construction yields exceptional body rigidity and torsional stiffness, plus an excellent power-to-weight ratio to deliver uncompromised handling and pulse-quickening performance. The high-performance potential of the XKR is apparent at a glance. It is distinguished by its black finish upper and lower mesh grilles, bodycolor hood louvers incorporating a “Supercharged” script motif and, of course, “R” badges front and rear. Gray brake calipers with “Jaguar” script peek through the spokes of the alloy wheels. The optional XKR Black Pack features 20-inch Kalimnos gloss-black alloy wheels, plus gloss-black finish on the grille surrounds, air intakes, side power vents and trunk lid finisher. On Coupe models there are also glossblack window surrounds. The Black Pack also includes a body-color Aerodynamic Pack, consisting of a front splitter and larger rear spoiler. To see into the night, bi-function HID xenon headlights are standard. Active Front Lighting, optional on XK and standard on XKR and XKR-S, directs the headlight beam to bend in the direction
of the steering for added visibility at night. In addition, distinctive LED signature running lights, integrated into the headlights, provide a bold and modern look when the XK is in motion. Headlight washers are also standard on all models. Power adjustable, heated exterior mirrors are auto-dimming, with electrochromic glass to reduce glare at night. The mirrors are also power folding to help you park in tight spaces, and can be set to fold when locking the vehicle, to give a visual indication your XK is secure. Ultrasonic sensors in the front and rear bumpers are designed to detect objects up to six feet away and provide the driver with an audible warning. Graphics on the Touch-screen indicate the position of the object in relation to the car. A rear camera, which displays digital video on the Touch-screen when reversing, is also standard. XK interior appointments are finished to the most luxurious standards. Leather is used extensively within the XK passenger cabin, along with handcrafted wood veneers and smooth metallic trim. Interior harmony is enhanced with soft-feel coatings on the switches around the JaguarDrive Selector and the Touch-screen, with brighter tones on the air vents and instrument panel, and a Piano Black finish across the central console. The leather headliner trim on the XKR-S is produced by Poltrona Frau, a renowned Italian furniture house: on
2013 Jaguar XK
Coupe models the full headliner is leather; on Convertible models the A-posts and windshield header are fitted with the Poltrona Frau leather. The leather steering wheel is heated on XK, XKR and XKR-S models and incorporates switches for cruise control and audio. They can be used to control the audio output – changing between CD tracks, radio stations or selections on an iPod or MP3 player – as well as to adjust volume. What’s more, a Sports Steering Wheel trimmed in Jet Suedecloth for extra grip is optional on select models (not available with Adaptive Cruise Control). The Jaguar Smart Key System, featuring Keyless entry and Keyless start, has been designed for maximum driver convenience. Approach the XK with the Jaguar Smart Key in your bag or pocket, pull the door release and the system unlocks the door and disarms the security system. Keyless start is activated as you get into the car—once seated behind the steering wheel, simply apply the brake and press the “Start” button, and the Jaguar V8 comes to life. Upon exiting the vehicle, locking the doors is as easy as pressing any door button – the doors will lock and the power mirrors will fold, visually confirming that the XK is locked. MSRP starts at $79,000.
22 • OBITUARIES D EATH N OTICES BROWN, Leonard L., age 81, died January 15, 2013; 5 Shevat, 5773. GORDON, Phillip, age 92, died January 15, 2013; 5 Shevat, 5773. KEY, Bonnie, age 85, died January 19, 2013; 9 Shevat, 5773. BRUSSELS from page 9 “It’s not happening everywhere but is happening in France, Belgium and Holland,” said Dina Porat, head of Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry. “Some leave to improve their quality of living, others because they feel unsafe as Muslims move in. For some, it’s a combination of both.” NETANYAHU from page 10 Q: Is there a link between the Israeli Left and the Bloomberg article? “There are people who are incessantly trying to enlist the world against Israel, while I try to enlist the world against Iran. Sadly, this is a phenomenon that keeps recurring. I behaved differently when I headed the Opposition and when I served as prime minister in the past. I always supported Israel’s governments and their struggles to protect vital interests.” Q: What will your relationship with the U.S. look like in the next term? “The relationship between Israel and the U.S. is very strong. We are in full cooperation on defense and intelligence. There are also joint ventures in other areas as well, but there are disagreements over the best way to achieve peace. That is not new. Disagreements surrounding this issue have existed between Israeli prime ministers and American presidents since the establishment of the State of Israel. “David Ben-Gurion had disagreements with U.S. Secretary of State [George] Marshall when he announced the establishment of the State of Israel. [Prime Minister Levi] Eshkol had disagreements with [U.S. President Lyndon] Johnson over lifting the blockade on the eve of the Six-Day War. [Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin had disagreements with [U.S. President Gerald] Ford over American demands for unilateral withdrawal from Sinai. [Prime Minister Menachem] Begin had disagreements with [U.S. President Ronald] Reagan over Iraq as well as the Reagan administration’s diplomacy plan. [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon had disagreements with [U.S. President George W.] Bush over immediately ending Operation Defensive Shield. “Despite all these disagreements, the relations between the
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Since the second intifada began, attacks against Jews have more or less doubled in France, Spain and the Benelux, where a total of 600,000 Jews live. Between 2009 and 2011, the Belgian government agency that monitors anti-Semitism recorded an average of 82 incidents a year, double the level recorded in 2002-04. Most of the incidents occurred in Brussels. “Walking with a kippah is unsafe in many other European cities,” Rubinfeld said. Even before the slaying last year by a Muslim extremist of three Jewish children and a rabbi at a Jewish school in France, security was very tight around Maimonides, Wajc said. Since then, the police have beefed up their presence outside the school, an 80,000-square-foot complex that looks more like a top-secret military facility than a school. Maimonides has no windows
and its exterior is fitted with armor plating. Its massive metal doors have no markings. The entrance leads to an inspection zone where security guards and cameras welcome arrivals from behind bulletproof glass. Such intensive measures weren’t necessary in 1945 when Seligman Bamberger, an educator who survived the Holocaust, first laid the groundwork for what would become Maimonides. “He placed a table and a chair on the platform of the Gare du Midi train station and asked random children if they were Jewish,” Wajc recounts. Within two years, Bamberger had attracted 100 children whom he taught in a local community center. The school was established formally in 1947 at its current address near the train station. The area used to be “the ideal location” for a Jewish school,
Wajc says, because of the approximately 100 Jewish families who lived nearby and sold produce in the commercial area. Dozens hung on until the early 1990s, but now only three Jewish families remain, he says. As their children and businesses grew, the Jews of the station area began moving to the greener and more affluent suburbs of Forest and Uccle, says Rubinfeld, the former president of the CCOJB umbrella organization representing Belgium’s 20,000 French-speaking Jews. Two additional Jewish schools opened to accommodate the new arrivals: Ganenou, the largest, with about 600 students, and the smaller Beth Aviv. Both schools teach in French, while Maimonides teaches its Francophone pupils in Flemish from the third grade on – an approach that is important for bridging the cultural divide
between the country’s Flemish speakers and its French-speaking Wallonians, Rubinfeld says. Meanwhile, Arab immigrants gradually took the place of the departed Jews. Today, the area around Gare du Midi is considered unsafe, especially after dark. “The area has an immigrant population that doesn’t have a very favorable attitude to Jews,” said Agnes Bensimon, an employee of the Israeli Embassy in Brussels and a former member of the Maimonides parents association. “On top of that, it’s just like any other poor urban area.” During the second intifada, assailants attacked Bensimon’s son, Nethanel, in the metro station. Similar attacks were carried out against a number of other Maimonides students. The school responded by instructing students to disembark at a more distant station and walk the distance to school.
two countries only grew closer, because the shared interests and shared values are stronger. “I know what my policy is: to launch peace negotiations with clear terms on how to end the negotiations. I refuse to jeopardize Israel’s security with this maneuver, and I will not close my eyes. I am willing to be satisfied with signing a piece of paper and saying that I protected Israel’s vital interests. No one can guarantee that the land we concede to the Palestinians won’t end up under Hamas control, and in practice in Iran’s control. Wisdom, care and responsibility are required for this. I think that these are things that I have brought to Israel’s leadership.” Q: If relaunching talks requires you to declare another moratorium on settlement construction beyond the Green Line, would you be willing to do it? “I don’t see any reason to declare a moratorium. It exhausted itself. After nearly a year-long moratorium, it turned out that it wasn’t what the Palestinians really cared about. Our problem with them is more basic: recognizing Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state within any border. There was a moratorium, they didn’t utilize the time and only waited for it to expire, and then asked for another moratorium. After all, [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas could have taken advantage of the time to engage in real, meaningful negotiations. But he didn’t. Afterward he went to the U.N. and blatantly violated the Oslo Accords.” Q: Is Abbas still a partner? “I hope that he changes his behavior, because up until now he has done everything in his power to avoid negotiations, and he has also joined up with Hamas, which seeks our destruction. That is no way to make peace.” “Don’t bang your head against the wall.” Q: Will 2013 be a deciding year on the Iranian front?
“Up until this minute, the Iranians haven’t crossed a single one of the red lines that I drew at the U.N. That is not to say that they are not advancing their nuclear program in other ways. They are continuing to enrich low grade uranium; they are not crossing the red line of highly enriched uranium, but they are continuing to improve their facilities and to prepare for that option. In my assessment, if they thought that sanctions were not accompanied by a credible military threat, they could become tempted to cross that line and to try to complete the enrichment required for their first nuclear weapon.” Q: Has there ever been a situation in which you planned to take a certain action and senior officers or organizations stopped you? “This entire debate is irresponsible, and it is also not very accurate. Anyway, all the criticism against me for investing billions in making Israel stronger, what exactly is the criticism? Of course I invested billions in making us stronger. I also invested billions in a security fence that has completely stopped the infiltrations (into Israel). “For the last seven months, not a single infiltrator has entered Israel’s cities. Of course it also helps a lot in preventing terror attacks from the Sinai border. We invested in Iron Dome, to protect the South as well as central Israel, and we are still going strong. We invested billions in the IDF’s defensive and offensive capabilities as well as the Israel Security Agency’s and the Mossad’s capabilities. These capabilities came into play during Operation Pillar of Defense and in other operations that I will not specify. “We have to be ready to protect ourselves if needed. This is a very basic principle. It is what sets us apart. I refuse to let the State of Israel be in the situation that the Jews were in 70 years ago, having to beg others to protect us. As long as I am prime minister, that will not happen.” Q: Are the sanctions against
Iran working? “They are effectively weakening the regime there, but so far they have been ineffective in stopping the Iranian nuclear program.”
power to avoid raising taxes. I prefer cutting government spending over raising taxes because lower taxes encourage growth and growth provides resources for other things. “We are number one in the West in terms of our economy with our economic results. Our deficit is half that of the U.S. or Britain. We are leaders in many other respects as well. We revolutionized education and mobile communications infrastructure. “Our next task is to do to the housing market what we did to the mobile communications market. But how can we do that without a strong ruling party? When Israel’s citizens go to the polls, they should think a little about the deep challenges that this country faces. It is rather difficult to pull yourself out of the shallow elections discourse, which doesn’t touch on the actual root of things.” Q: Where will the money to cover the deficit come from? “The deficit isn’t that large. We have had larger deficits than this one in the past. In 2009 we had a deficit of 5 percent. We managed to diminish it and simultaneously ensure pay raises for police officers, teachers, doctors and to increase minimum wage and improve contract workers’ conditions. The key is continued growth, which stems from reforms that increase competition in the market. That is where we will take action. “Listen, this is not a cliché and it is not just spin. We are achieving things that no one has done here for decades. I remember the way things were when I became finance minister in 2003. Back then they already told me that we didn’t have a shot. I came, I made changes, and we succeeded in raising Israel’s credit rating. “Israel’s achievements are admired all over the world. Not too long ago, here in my office, a famous radio personality from a well-known economic network sat here and said ‘every European country should envy your numbers.’”
Q: If you assemble a coalition, what will your first task be? “First I will ensure Israel’s security. Within security, the first task will be to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. I hope we can do that with international pressure and that the U.S. will join us and live up to the promise we have heard from them countless times, to prevent the nuclearization of Iran. “Meanwhile, we are taking into account the possibility that we might have to act alone to protect ourselves. Not only are these things overt, they are usually linked. If the world knows that we are determined to take action, it will encourage the world to take action. Sanctions without a credible military threat are not enough.” Q: Do you have a partner in the Arab world today? “There are quite a few Arab leaders that see eye to eye with us on the Iranian threat, and not just that. It isn’t always projected outward. Sometimes we reach understandings for other reasons, like the understandings we have with Egypt on stabilizing the Sinai border and the situation in Gaza. I think that right now, our interests correspond. That doesn’t guarantee that they will continue to correspond, but we have to keep navigating the diplomatic arena wisely. I think that we have proven that we know how to do just that.” Q: The upcoming election is also about fiscal policy, and Israel now has a budgetary deficit. “We took this deficit into account. With the moderate tax plan that we passed, for example. We assumed that the deficit would amount to four percent [of the gross domestic product], and it likely won’t affect the citizens’ pocket. I always prefer not to raise taxes, and I will always do everything in my
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